WHEN Paul Mulcock seeks inspiration, he needs look no further than the office wall.
Paul, who runs executive search and selection company Broad Oak Solutions, is fascinated by the story of Apollo 13 – the ill-fated moon mission in which three US astronauts were marooned in space and were only brought safely back to earth by the combined efforts of the NASA team.
The walls at Paul’s Slaithwaite office include a framed cover of Life magazine featuring Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell as well as the front page of a US newspaper covering the unfolding drama of their rescue and a photo of the crew on the deck of the aircraft carrier after their successful splashdown.
“Apollo 13 is massively inspirational,” says Paul. “These three astronauts could have become the first men to die in space, but they responded to the calamity, chaos and peril with calm and innovative courage.
“They worked every single problem through to a solution – from fabricating a breathing device to timing their own re-entry into earth’s orbit on a Rolex watch because their systems had failed.
“It was a team effort between the astronauts and the guys at mission control.”
Paul doesn’t suggest that surviving an abortive moon mission compares with the problems faced in business, but says there are lessons to be drawn.
“I love it as a symbol of how to face a problem, how to react in the face of adversity and as clear evidence that if you work hard enough and think ‘outside the box’ you will always solve the problem.”
Paul has been helping firms of all sizes solve their recruitment problems for many years – but has only been in business for himself for the past 12 months.
He began by working for GKR – one of the headhunting industry’s biggest names – in London and had a second spell in the capital with another leading name, sevenhr.
“I have had years of rolling into the office and spending £5 on a stale sandwich for lunch,” he says. “At one time, the company had a flat on the London Bridge Road, where I stayed. We had an office in Covent Garden and in the City.
“I have dealt with Unilever, Diageo and Procter and Gamble. I have recruited in the Nigerian delta and in Moscow. But there is an impersonal nature to these business relationships. There was no soul to the work.”
Running his own business means Paul can focus on building real relationships with his clients – and it means he can deal with small and big names.
“Companies are looking for someone to question them, to tell it to them straight,” he says. “They want to find an ambassador who can represent them in their market.”
At one end of the scale are clients like Brighouse-based Ploughcroft – an award-winning £2m turnover roofing and building company, which – Paul says – values Broad Oak Solutions for its ability to deliver “consistent results”.
At the other end of the scale is Tulip, a £1.4bn business and a major exporter of pork products. Broad Oak Solutions works with the company’s human resources director, its main board and its executive board.
Paul had no qualms about setting up on his own during the height of a recession. “I could not have started at a better time,” he says. “Everything is more extreme in a recession. In recruitment, that means the problems of having the wrong person in a key role is much worse in a recession.
“The commercial advantage in having the right person in place is enormous. Whether it is an SME trying to win new orders and keep its head above water or a huge food manufacturer determined to equip itself with the brightest minds in the UK, recession only intensifies the need to have great people.”
Paul stepped into recruitment directly after gaining a philosophy degree at Huddersfield University in 1989. His wife Maggie studied music at the university. The couple have a 12-year-old daughter, Chloé.
He trained in London and Leeds, recruiting for key personnel in law, insolvency and financial service before settling into FMCG and undertaking an 18-month secondment with US investment bank Merrill Lynch. Paul put the first non-family managing director on to the board of bakery firm Warburton, which got him noticed by his last employer, sevenhr.
He negotiated an exit from sevenhr, saying “We had our differences. The difference being that my ideas were too radical for them.”
Away from work, Paul is president of the Huddersfield Philharmonic Society, adding: “I am in a very privileged position. I have made a degree if money in my career. Broad Oak Solutions is doing nicely and I can give something back to the community. It is quite selfish, really, if I am quite honest.
“Maggie is a Royal Conservatoire-trained violinist. I am a very poor trumpeter. I would often see her perform with the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra when we were dating. I developed a passion for the philharmonic and classical music.
“I was invited three years ago to become vice-president and that meant the orchestra could take advantage of my commercial contacts. As president, I’m the figurehead of the society, but I am also a director of the society and a member of the executive board.
“It is more of a time-consuming role than I expected – but I love being involved. I love tackling problems, because every problem has a solution.”
Jim Lovell would agree with that.
