An Oxfordshire-based recruitment agency has undergone a business rebrand and name change in the wake of unwelcome associations with an extremist group.
The agency, now called Shine Appointments, was established in 2010 under its original name of Isis Resourcing by Kate Faulkner and Vanessa Case, two working mums from Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Providing high-quality catering and hospitality staff to organisations in Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and the surrounding areas, the business was forced to rebrand and change name following a downturn in business over the last 12 months.
Kate and Vanessa initially launched their company with a nomenclature they felt was synonymous with the River Thames and the local area, long before the name Isis became associated with extremism. Over the past five years, their business has grown and become extremely successful in the local area. However, negative associations with the name has made it increasingly hard to trade. The company recruits for staff and relies upon applicants sending CVs and communicating via email but this became increasingly difficult.
“We started to find that our website was being blocked, especially by some of the schools we have worked with and emails were not getting through firewalls,” said Kate Faulkner, Director.
“It became apparent that not only were our emails not getting through to clients, prospective clients and applicants, there was an increasing air of suspicion when we stated our company name,” commented Vanessa Case, Director. She continued: “One client made the mistake of typing ‘recruitment’ rather than ‘resourcing’ into Google and was faced with the most horrific images. We decided that we needed to act immediately in order to change the associations with the name.”
Kate added that “whilst it is very sad to say goodbye to a name that once had only positive associations with a beautiful part of the country, every business has to react to their changing environment. We see this an opportunity to do something a bit different and we are looking forward to relaunching our business and taking a fresh approach.”
Kate and Vanessa are now in the process of rebranding as Shine Appointments and will use this an opportunity to relaunch the company, incorporating new business sectors and offering an integrated HR service, which previously operated separately.
The company’s new website can be found at www.shineappointments.co.uk.