E3 Recruitment Ltd

A recruitment company boasting more than 60 years experience among its senior team is making a name for itself.

E3, based at Heritage Exchange, Lindley, specialises in blue and white collar recruitment for the engineering, manufacturing and technical sectors – providing permanent placements, temporary workers and contract interim personnel for fixed term assignments.

The company has grown quickly from two founding business partners to a team of eight by recruiting a compliance and payroll manager to support its growing temporary and contract business, which grew to 50 contractors in just five months.

E3 was named best B2B new business under the award scheme run through Barclays Ready for Business – with the trophy presented to the team at the Houses of Parliament.

Director and business partner Andrew Pilling said: “E3 are a stringent, selective and niche recruitment business but are open and honest to offer expert advice based on experience.

“We can’t recreate the ‘recruitment wheel’ so to speak, but we certainly adapt, create and develop new methodologies to ensure an enhanced recruitment process with each client.”

The company’s own recruitment policy is very much “grow your own”. E3 offers trainee and apprenticeship recruitment schemes for individuals with the attitude and personality to develop.

Mr Pilling said the company was on course to double its sales revenue by June next year and intended to increase staffing friom eight to 10 consultants by the end of this year.

He said: “We are committed to developing individuals through internal training plans and external training services supplied through the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, ensuring all our employees are accredited and able to offer our clients and candidates an exceptional recruitment experience.”

Mr Pilling said the company planned to strengthen links with Huddersfield University in terms of marketing plans and market research and providing work-based projects for students.

It also planned to tie-in with local sporting and educational events by supporting cricket and football teams, school open days and fairs.

The company plans to expand with the addition of a new division focusing on clients in the aerospace sector as well as opening a South Yorkshire office in 2015 to boost revenue streams. It also aims to create separate divisions offering two main categories of service – search and selection for white collar assignments and a skilled and trades division focusing on blue collar temporary and permanent posts.

IndiaCoco

Claire Harper of IndiaCoco
Claire Harper of IndiaCoco
 

A successful career working in senior position for some of retailing’s biggest names has given mother-of-two Claire Harper a wealth of experience – which she is now putting to good use with her own childrenswear business.

Kirkburton-based Claire set up IndiaCoco to provide original, well-designed, practical and “best of British” clothing for babies and children up to eight years old.

Claire had previously worked for many years in senior marketing roles for major names including Argos, Ocado, Sainsbury’s and more recently as marketing director at Huddersfield-based Mamas & Papas.

Creating IndiaCoco – named after daughters Coco and India – is the realisation of a lifelong dream for Claire, who has always wanted to create an iconic lifestyle brand.

Claire set up the business after attending the Bubble trade exhibition at London’s Design Centre and researching potential suppliers.

Since then, her business has caught the eye of some of the UK’s best-known entrepreneurs – winning a WOW award from Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of Ann Summers and a Small Business Sunday award from Theo Paphitis. She has also promoted IndiaCoco in joint marketing campaigns with other British brands, including Ocado and fragrance and body care products firm Neom Organics.

Claire’s vision for IndiaCoco is as a multi-channel retailer, rolling out the brand across the UK in community-based locations. She is also looking to expand the ranges and own label products in the baby category.

She’s also under way with web developments around mobile applications and making it easier for international customers to order.

In a crowded marketplace, Claire believes that IndiaCoco has a “differentiator” based on doing things professionally and well, building a strong brand and offering great quality products and exceptional customer service.

Claire said: “I am so passionate about the customer and I have worked for some fabulous customer-centric companies. Sometimes I would get so frustrated with colleagues at senior levels who just don’t understand the customer. We spend a lot of time working out what customers want and who they are – it’s a process that never stops.”

Ti Installations Ltd

Kristopher Johnson (left) and Mark Copley of Ti Installations, Marsh Mills, Huddersfield.

Sole trader electricians Kris Johnson and Mark Copley have teamed up to form a business focusing on security, electrical and audio visual systems.

Ti Installations, based at Marsh Mills, Marsh, was formed in January this year to satisfy what the two experienced City & Guilds trained electrical engineers saw as a gap in the market – a single trusted multi-disciplined contractor able to fulfil a client’s security, electrical and audio requirements and saving them the hassle of having to find different suppliers.

Ti has already begun to succeed in a crowded marketplace – outperforming its original business plan targets for turnover and putting it on course to exceed projected profits and sales for the full year.

Kris and Mark are already searching for a new employee – a qualified electrician who can work alongside them on local and nationwide contracts. The scale of Ti’s client base is also set to grow.

Kris and Mark have added to their list of qualifications during a busy first year trading to cover areas including asbestos awareness, the safe handling of power access equipment, health and safety and first aid training.

Kris said: “Being upskilled beyond what is required has enabled Ti to tender for bigger, otherwise unattainable contracts.”

Among its successes, Ti has completed 20 contracts for retail giant Poundworld with a further five projects in the pipeline. Its impressive customer retention rate is providing a solid foundation for the business while its success in gaining service and maintenance contracts with estate agents and property management clients has also proved crucial.

Kris said Ti’s affordable pricing structure appealed to profit-conscious commercial clients and cash-strapped domestic customers while demonstrating a commitment to quality and determination to banish the stereotype of untidy, unreliable tradesmen.

Looking ahead, Kris said the key now was to maintain momentum and ensure the company grew to look after a bigger customer base without compromising on standards.

Ti plans to appoint an office co-ordinator in 2015 to take up the burden of administration and ensure Ti’s business systems are of high quality, It also aims to take on a business development consultant to turn sales leads generated through the firm’s website into contracts. It also aims to appoint a fourth electrician in 2015 to support the anticipated increased workload with a view to recruiting its first apprentice later in the year.

Kris and Mark’s longer term plan is to manage the umbrella Ti Installations brand.