Surinder Hothi – Select Appointments, Oxford
 Surinder Hothi |
Select Appointments is a leading UK recruitment franchisor and currently has a number of successful franchise partners. One of Select’s recent success stories is Surinder Hothi, Franchise Director of Select Appointments in Oxford.
Surinder had worked in London, in the fast paced financial world for the majority of his career, and felt that it was time for a change. He was seeking a new challenge, wanted to work outside of London and use the skills that he had acquired.
Surinder explains “Franchising appealed to me as it offered the opportunity to run your own business with the back up and support of a secure business model and national brand Having attended various franchise exhibitions and fully investigated all franchise opportunities from pizza to cleaning franchises, it was Select’s offering that appealed to me. I was impressed with the support that Select provided both before and after signing the agreement and they really do view this as a partnership.”
Surinder continues “Select is a truly people focussed organisation and I felt that their ethos and aims were in align with my own skill set. I was attracted by the level of support provided by both the Franchise team and the rest of the Head Office teams. It is like employing 60 back office staff whom I can call on whenever required – everything from payroll to marketing is fully covered.”
Surinder opened his franchise office in January 2006 and has enjoyed a very successful year that looks set to continue. “My business is challenging but rewarding and I attribute our success to the hard work of my team and the commitment of Select. Select assisted me in recruiting the right team at the start and my own hands on role enable me to fully learn and understand my business and the industry. Select is truly committed to the success of my business and the ongoing support from my personal Business Development Manager has enabled me to fully capitalise on the Oxford market.” Surinder explains.
 The Oxford team |
Within the first month of business, Surinder and his team were making placements and the strong Oxford team has enabled Surinder to take a step back from the day to day running of the office and concentrate on his business development.
The success of Surinder and the Oxford team culminated in them winning the New Franchisee of the Year Award at Select’s annual awards. Surinder comments “2006 has been a great year for us and we are starting to become part of the local community in Oxford. In 2007 we are aiming to cement our position within Oxford as a leading staffing solutions provider. Part of our 2007 plan is to develop our services to our local clients and candidates and build on our executive staffing solutions, focusing on senior appointments within the sectors that we already specialise in. With my background and extensive experience in senior finance and business services, the team have the knowledge and skill to provide an executive recruitment service that is second to none.”
Robin McKee
With 17 years experience working for small, medium and global recruitment companies, Robin McKee identified his own ideal role – running his own staffing business with the backing of the UK’s leading recruitment franchisor.
Twelve months later Robin owns and operates two territories – Edgware and Waltham Cross – running two brands from the latter: Select Appointments (specialising in office staff) and Parkhouse Recruitment (specialising in industrial staff). He has also acquired the rights to trade in a further greenfield territory.
The investment in both Select and Parkhouse was a calculated decision to optimise on different trading cycles, larger market audiences and a bigger industry pool in which to operate.
Robin acquired a franchise rather than setting up in business on his own as he wanted to drive the speed of change, whilst enjoying the support and benefits associated with operating within a network of like minded people. Given a choice of dates and venues for regional meetings, Robin opts to attend both believing the opportunity to share ideas and best practice invaluable.
Robin says: “the benefits of being your own boss are that you get to choose how the business feels, its personality, its successes. There is a great deal of satisfaction in achieving the goals of the business and watching it grow up and evolve almost in the same way a parent would gain pleasure in witnessing the development of a child.”
Having set up a number of recruitment to recruitment companies Robin had knowledge of the Select Appointments brand and was very impressed at how efficiently the company went about its business. He explored varying market sectors and numerous franchise offerings available. His overwhelming conclusion was that the support and value for money delivered by Select Franchising made the decision to purchase easy.
He describes the key support received from Select Franchising as “factoring, marketing, national accounts, mentoring, networking with key head office personnel, the provision of strong trading brands, an IT infrastructure, and probably most importantly, is an understanding partner”.
Robin’s hard work in establishing his business is off-set by playing hard too. An avid motorbike racer, he committed to participate at five events this season on his branded Suzuki GSX-R 600 as a fund-raising exercise for the charity Tomorrow’s People who help people from all areas of the community find and keep a job.
Back in the office having attracted key personnel, Robin is on track for success in his local markets. In fact two team members have been shortlisted for The Hertfordshire Consultant of the Year - a huge achievement that underlines the relationships already being built in the business community.
Becky Harker
Becky Harker loved the company she worked for so much, she bought a part of it!
With a progressive career in recruitment and four promotions under her belt at Select Appointments alone, she returned to work full-time in January 2008 as a new mother and a business owner.
After eight years working through the ranks from Consultant to Business Manager of Select’s Swindon office, she was offered the opportunity to acquire the franchise and jumped at the chance.
In her words “I had managed the team in Swindon for many years and knew the industry and market-place well. This has been the best decision I have ever made. The whole ownership, responsibility and knowing I can make it happen is a challenge and one I am enjoying everyday.”
Her background spans industrial, commercial and accountancy recruitment and she chose Select over the competitors as they “had a reputation second to none and a brand that was clear and precise”.
Becky is a shining example of a successful woman in business. Her trophy cabinet bulges at the seams. At the company’s 2006 annual conference she took to the stage to collect the Chief Executive’s Special Award for Excellence, as well as the Most Improved Office Award. She has also coached and managed the Top Temporaries Consultant of the year.
While Becky had a progressive career in recruitment she admits that she is still learning about running her own business and this is where she calls on the expertise and infrastructure of Select as an established franchisor. Prompt answers to a range of operational questions, day-to-day training and development support, together with financial and property advice have all been invaluable resources.
Becky is as passionate about her business, her team, her candidates and her clients today as she was when she walked through the door eight years ago and felt she had found her home. Her passion is contagious and her results speak for themselves.
David Nield
When he was working as a Management Consultant, David Nield used a Select Appointments’ franchise office to recruit staff. He was so impressed with their service he invested in a franchise of his own in Portsmouth together with his wife Jenny in March 2007. Just over a year later they acquired a second territory in Bournemouth.
David’s interest in recruitment was initially started by a niche recruitment consultancy in London that was a client of his. Whilst working with them he came to enjoy the industry and the people so much that he decided to start his own recruitment business.
Initially the couple thought about setting up on their own, however, in order to establish the business more quickly and focus on sales they elected to purchase a franchise because of the back office support and brand recognition they offered.
David and Jenny chose Select Franchising as “they were the only serious recruitment players in the franchise market.” On a day-to-day basis they benefit from HR and payroll services, staff training and development, business and marketing support, 60 day invoice discounting and franchisee seminars.
Managing both offices in a hands-on capacity has paid dividends for David as he has a loyal and dedicated team. In turn their commitment and professionalism has built long-term client relationships, aided by events such as the recruitment networking event they hosted at the Spinnaker Tower. They are now able to boast being the number one supplier to the largest commercial employer in Portsmouth.
These factors, together with sheer determination, made Portsmouth the most successful new business in gross profit terms in its first year of trading of any of the Select Franchising brands ever.
Success breeds success and David is looking forward to a rewarding year ahead for his colleagues, clients and candidates as well as for himself and Jenny.
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Select Appointments is the only recruitment franchisor recognised as a Sunday Times Top 100 Company. Approaching our third decade of operation, we are part of the world’s second largest HR services company. In short we are the UK leaders in recruitment franchising. Our comprehensive training programme means no recruitment experience required.
Sector: Employment, Training
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Select Appointments Ltd
259 | Select Appointments Ltd
Regent Court,
Laporte Way,
Beds, LU4 8SB
www.selectfranchising.co.uk | Claire Putnam
Tel: 01582 811654
c.putnam@select.co.uk |
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