Recruitment specialist breaks £1m barrier

Manchester recruitment agency J2 Recruitment is celebrating breaking £1m in turnover since opening two years ago with an office move fit for its growing team.

J2 Recruitment was set up just over two years ago by James Fowler and James Warburton, who met as senior recruiters at the same recruitment firm six years ago.

After identifying gaps in the market and opportunities to improve processes to enhance client experience, they decided to strike out on their own.

When the duo established the business in June, 2015 they were the first commercial tenants in Manchester city centre’s Bartle House.

The agency has now moved to trendy Waulk Mill on Bengal Street, following rapid growth from two to 10 staff in two years.

J2 Recruitment now has the plans – and the floorspace – to accommodate up to 30 employees, which is the agency’s headcount target for 2020.

Fowler said: ‘Manchester is the best place to start a business – it has a huge talent pool across many industries.

“The business community doesn’t lack energy either, there’s a sense of optimism and growth – you only need to look at the number of cranes across the city skyline.

“It’s the perfect place for a challenger agency to thrive. Breaking our £1m turnover target, moving into Waulk Mill and boosting our headcount has not come without hard work but it is also a testament to our quality employees who live by our values of putting the client and their best interests at the centre of everything we do.”

Warburton added: ‘Reaching these milestones is definitely something that we have been looking forward to. We are ambitious and hope there will be many more to come.

“As well as moving to our new home which encapsulates our brand, personality and values, we have also committed to providing our employees with new IT systems by investing in the best telecommunications, CRM system and website.

‘We also believe passionately in looking after our employees and not driving them to achieve meaningless KPIs, which we have found, gives them greater flexibility to do a better job. As a result we have attracted some of the best talent Manchester has to offer, because they know we value them and the work they do. And we’re looking to recruit more exceptional people.’

J2 Recruitment’s clients operate across professional services, from banking to law firms and include a number of the UK’s 100 fastest growing businesses and 100 best places to work.