How a Dragon is helping to build our business

Peter Crush

Chris O’Connell, Timothy James Consulting

What’s the difference between an agency and a consultancy? According to Chris O’Connell, founder of Timothy James Consulting (TJC), it’s service: “There are a lot of mid-range agencies out there, and while they do a good job of finding people jobs, mine is a vision that’s more about what I call ‘true consultancy’ – working with clients and being a true partner,” he says.

It’s a confident statement, but then O’Connell, 36, is a confident man. He founded the business in 2003 having “fallen into recruitment” working at SThree Group as a recruitment consultant. After six years, he left and was determined to use his experience to build a business where he felt he could do things better.

And, if the accolades he’s received are anything to go by, he’s succeeding. Last year the business was named the second-fastest growing agency in 2012; it is a Times Best Small Company to Work for, and he has just received a Best Companies accreditation for the third-year running.

Attention to employees

The niche he’s carved out, servicing £40,000-plus roles and above, was a bold one, but from the off, he was determined it had to be done right: “Even though I had no guarantee of work, I made a conscious decision the business wouldn’t be run from my bedroom,” he says. “We got nice modern office and as a result, I feel it actually helped us attract and keep good early employees.”

Ten years later, O’Connell says he still hasn’t forgotten that if you need to give clients the best service, concentrating on staff comes first. “Everyone has regular meetings with managers, and all new recruits are asked what they want their career to give them,” he says. “Everyone then has their own tailored road-map, to ensure their ambitions are met.”

He admits that the recruitment industry can sometimes be seen to “be too salesy”, with not enough attention on service. He argues that agencies can also suffer from a having a reputation for using inexperienced people to place clients – although you won’t find them in his firm. “We’re strongly trying to move this perception on,” he argues. “The training we give our own people is regular and intense; but it has to be. With our business, our clients are CEOs, financial directors and MDs and the like, so all of our staff have to be able to hold court with these sorts of people.”

He says proof that his professionalism is noticed is the fact that the senior executives they place often come back to TJC to ask them to place more people into their business. His typical margin is around 22%, but O’Connell says he also offers companies a rebate if people they place leave within eight weeks.

His model is clearly working. Even in tough times, where the number of high-salary positions available might appear to be less, the business is thriving.

“Right now, lots of our recruitment is being done to bring about organisational transformation within companies,” says O’Connell. This explains, he says, why the recession is actually helping him grow his business. He expects TJC will expand from its current 60 staff (currently split between its head office in Bristol, Manchester and London) to be nearer 120 in the next three years. “The plan is also to build an international presence,” he adds. “We’re already placing more oil and gas candidates into companies like Shell and BP, and we see this market growing massively.” This is certainly a bold prediction in the current economic climate.

Deal with a Dragon

Arguably his greatest coup came less than 18 months ago, when O’Connell struck a deal with none other than former BBC Dragons’ Den star James Caan, himself a recruitment entrepreneur of many years standing and now an angel investor. 

Under the agreement, which was completed in November 2011, O’Connell sold 50% of the business to Caan. In return for a sizeable investment, he now has a business plan that he predicts will help him in achieving his ambitious growth plans. “The deal had to be right for both of us,” he says, “but it’s very exciting, and there is a real sense of collaboration. James is a very experienced recruiter.”

In the meantime though, O’Connell says the business will continue to operate as it does now, prioritising staff and providing exceptionally good service. The chill-out lounge found at its main office, (complete with Sky TV, a darts area, kitchen and pool table) will still continue to be a feature, as will its Grand Days Out team events (such as going to Las Vegas, or an F1 Grand Prix as a reward). Says O’Connell: “I sit in the middle of the room, available to anyone who wants me, and no job is too big or too small,” he says. “I wouldn’t ask anyone to do stuff I haven’t done myself.”