“It would seem the main attraction is how I can find the right candidates. I don’t rely on advertising and I don’t trawl job boards for CVs. I do however curate and continue to develop a huge network, built over the last 25 years of my career, and I am constantly speaking to new decision makers, SME shareholders, charity trustees, board directors and investors on a daily basis.
“When you talk to and meet several people a day, every week of every year, you naturally end up knowing a lot of people, and the high-level executive and non-executive landscape is the one in which I have operated for most of my career.
“I am also active as a Non-Executive Director, trustee and board advisor myself which opens me up to meeting and understanding like-minded strategic people.
“These two elements are something you can’t buy or train yourself overnight, they are something that have been organic for me, and means that I am in the perfect position to open that digital, modern-day ‘black book’ which gives me access directly or through referrals to the right people that meet the needs of even the most challenging brief.
“Because of this, and because it is what I have worked hard at for a number of years, I recognised and chose to make the focus of the Experience Bank Group’s recruitment service to be MDs, Chief Officers, Non-Executive Directors and Chairs. It is proving to be the perfect business model for me.
“Indeed, the premise of our philanthropic sister company, The Experience Bank, is enabled by my continual networking. The Experience Bank, as the names suggests, is a talent pool of seasoned board directors and entrepreneurs (all of whom have as many scars as medals – which makes them valuable), that I have curated for over eight years now. Everyone in The Experience Bank is willing and interested to volunteer their time to help very early-stage businesses in the region as informal board advisors.
“There are over 250 people in The Experience Bank now, and the number continues to grow. I work hard at making that a success and at networking, so I can offer insightful, efficient and reliable solutions. All of this together means that my USP – my substantial and relevant network – means I never start from scratch when responding to a client brief.
“Someone recently pointed out that, if I contact them, they always answer or respond to my message, because it will very likely be about something interesting. That’s a fabulous thing to hear about yourself, not for my own ego, but for the clients I support. It means that I can continue to deliver the right people for the right roles.”
