Celebrating 20 Years of Recruitment Excellence

20 years! It doesn’t sound like so many now. 

I remember our first birthday and if you told me then that we’d celebrate 20 years I probably would have felt a lot less anxious at the time! 

When we started this business everyone was quick to point out the statistics, 20% will go under in their first year! 70% before they are 10! However I can honestly say that we never felt that pressure. I suppose when your business is doing something you love, it’s easy to get up every day and do it. We feel very grateful to have a lot of the same clients who were at our first birthday still by our side. We don’t take that for granted.

The core of recruitment hasn’t changed in the last 20 years, the role of assessing talent is still the same today. However the tools of our trade have dramatically changed including how we source our talent. The part that I’ve always loved is engaging with someone and hearing their story. People are so interesting and the paths they have travelled mould them into the candidate sitting in front of you. They are not all interesting in a good way, but it’s meant no 2 days have ever been the same. It’s the ever evolving marketplace that we work in that has made the last 20 years fly by. 

Our proactive approach to change, including being early adopters of internet sourcing after the recession and the honing of these skills over the years has meant that we continue to learn and develop our skillset. There is always someone developing new technology, new techniques and it makes for a great industry to be a part of, and with constant investment in learning to ensure we are a step ahead for our clients, we have been able to source talent in every type of market over the last 20 years.

I remember sitting in October 2004 with a client who was unsure which candidate to chose between, and after a final interview they decided to hire both. That was Gilligan Black’s first placement. That was the Celtic Tiger era. Things drastically changed a few years later, but we kept going, we were hit by covid and we’re still going. Coming through those changing times has given us an armour and we know that the bad times are never really that bad, there are good times to come and we just keep showing up, being consistent and we get through it.

I will always remember our first placement and there are very few since that I would forget. It’s the reason we are still here. 

So as I look ahead in this very buoyant economy that we are in currently the future looks very bright, but regardless of what it throws at us, we know we can handle it. Thank you to all the candidates and clients who have kept us here, working with you has made for a great 20 years and we are looking forward to tomorrow, while enjoying today!

– Theresa Black