Orion Group achieves growth in the recruitment industry, despite period of uncertainty
 

The recruitment industry never stands still. It evolves and changes for a number of reasons: be it new technology, market constraints, political uncertainty, economic challenges or candidate and skills shortages

The recruitment space is becoming a tighter market than ever before. It’s a fact that probably won’t change in the near future either.

Orion Group is Scotland’s largest independent recruitment company and one of the largest in the UK. It has met the industry challenges head on and is actually enjoying a period of growth.

As the UK grapples with arguably its biggest political decision in living memory in the shape of Brexit, Orion Group has been diligent in focusing on evolving and diversifying its business offering in order to meet the ever changing recruitment market, and not only in Scotland but across the UK and also internationally.

The University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander institute, very recently published a survey which showed that around three in ten Scottish businesses have scaled back new investment because of Brexit uncertainty. However, Orion Group is working on exciting and diversification plans that will see the company grow and expand.

Orion Group has launched new recruitment divisions for Executive, Permanent and Interim jobs as part of its expansion plan across Scotland and also Manchester and London. It is headed up by Regional Director Matthew Clark

He explained: “In terms of the recruitment industry, we are noticing that a number of our competitors reduced their headcount and the sector has also struggled to attract fresh talent. A great deal has been talked about the millennial workforce and what a business has to do to attract and retain talent.”

Mr Clark went on to talk about how positive Orion Group is and how determined it is on achieving growth, expansion and diversification at a time when traditional competitors are scaling back. Glasgow growth plans include a move into new offices in the city centre early in 2020 and the creation of new jobs will be further enhanced by a sizeable boost in staff numbers in its offices in Manchester and London.

He added: ”Despite all these challenges, we are confident when it comes to our growth strategy. We see lots of opportunities at the moment and a very exciting few years ahead of us. Given we are a privately owned, independent business we can make decisions swiftly and efficiently in order to maximise these opportunities to their fullest.

"On the back of this we feel we have an amazing story to tell and we offer genuine career opportunities in recruitment for people to join us at all levels. We are constantly working hard to identify talent to join our business and as we grow, every individual has the chance to help us evolve and shape our offering as well as redefining our culture.”

Mr Clark continued to highlight other things Orion Group is doing. “People are definitely a recruitment business biggest asset and talent retention is equally as important as talent attraction for me. Working habits have changed dramatically since I came into the industry and we are always looking at smarter ways of working and how we can improve what we offer and how we support our people.


"We are constantly improving our systems, processes and procedures whilst investing heavily in new, modern technologies. How we source, identify and assess candidates for our clients is massively important and there have been some exciting new tools that have come onto the market. Certain sectors are suffering from skills shortages but like I say, I’m a big believer that where there are challenges there are also massive opportunities."

Hole in one

The Herald:

“As with headhunting for senior executive positions, Orion Group went to great lengths - continuing its long association with golf - by identifying an up-and-coming player to support,” says Clark. “Robert MacIntyre - Lefty to his friends - stood out to us. Hard-working, ambitious, dedicated, grounded, proud of his Highland and Scottish roots...the list of his outstanding qualities goes on.

“We felt that Robert had what it took to reach the top echelons of the game eventually. That made him a perfect fit for us, but even we were surprised when the 22-year-old put himself in contention for a maiden European Tour tournament victory in Denmark and, more recently, Germany. Obviously, his top six finish at The Open was an incredible achievement in his rookie season on the European Tour too.

“We look forward to more of the same going forward from what has proved to be an extremely rewarding partnership for both Orion and Robert.”

  • If you are a candidate looking for a vacancy, register and send us your CV to www.orionjobs.com
  • If you are a company looking to hire within Permanent, Interim or Executive search also please do get in touch.
  • If you are working in recruitment and seeking a new challenge with Scotland’s largest independent recruitment company, we would be interested in hearing from you.

Orion Group Glasgow office – meet the team 

The Herald:

Matthew Clark – MD of Orion Executive Search. Matthew has been in recruitment for over 18 years and is a very well known personality across the central belt.

Mike Downes – Concentrates on Procurement and Supply Chain Opportunities

Stewart MacGreggor heads up Orion Group’s Accountancy and Finance positions across the central belt and UK.

Emma Brooks - Is Orion’s expert in Interim Search opportunities across the central belt and across a range of functions and sectors

Julie Reece – Provides our recruiters with all the back office and sales and marketing support they require to be successful

To find out more email execsearch@orioneng.com