Cardiff-based Yolk Recruitment has announced details of its ambitious growth strategy, as part of its goal to become Wales’ market-leading recruitment agency by 2020.
The firm has announced it is seeking to acquire a number of businesses in order to drive its growth, and will focus on building relationships with owner-managers of small recruitment firms that would benefit from the infrastructure of a larger business.
The announcement comes as Yolk announces that its first joint venture – which saw industry heavyweight Mike Lee join co-founders of Yolk, Dale Williams and Duncan Powell to launch executive search firm City Executive Search – is set to turn over £250K in its first year of trading.
CEO Dale Williams said that acquisition will form a key part of Yolk’s drive to become the dominant force in the Welsh recruitment market:
“After ten years of year-on-year growth, Yolk has positioned itself as a dominant force and one of the largest suppliers of permanent staff in Wales. We are now aiming to double contract turnover to £10 Million by 2020, while continuing to grow our established permanent business.
“As well as growing our team organically by hiring 24 associate consultants this year, we are looking to acquire small, specialist businesses attracted by becoming part of a dynamic, growing agency with big ambitions.
Yolk, which is marking a decade in business, unveiled a refreshed brand identity and website this week.
Dale continued: “We felt this was the right time to take our brand to the next level, to tie in with our ambitious growth plans. The brand, which was developed by Bluegg, is fresh, modern and reflects the way we do business, underpinned by our new strapline – brighter, bolder, better.
“We are delighted with our new brand and website, which confidently and succinctly communicates our core proposition to a growing customer base across the UK while highlighting our mission to reshape recruitment. “
Yolk, founded by Dale and Managing Director Duncan Powell in 2009, offers recruitment solutions in a range of industries including IT, sales, legal, marketing, office support and engineering.
It is also launching a new accountancy and finance division in response to a growth in demand for talent, which Dale believes is being driven by the growth of the fintech sector.
Williams and Powell have formed an umbrella company – The Recolution Group – under which Yolk and City Executive Search sit, as will all future joint ventures and acquisitions.
In 2017, Yolk won a sustainable growth award at Wales’ Fast Growth 50, becoming one of only a handful of companies to appear on the list for five consecutive years. Dale Williams, also picked up the Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Cardiff Business Awards 2018.
The firm was recently named the only Welsh recruitment agency on the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) permanent recruitment framework. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services.
The agreement between CCS and Yolk covers the UK-wide supply of permanent recruitment services to UK public sector bodies including central government departments and their arm’s length bodies and agencies, non-departmental public bodies and wider public sector organisations.
Williams continued: “Our track record in identifying and placing the best quality candidates across a multitude of sectors, along with our commitment to customer service, means we have enjoyed year-on-year organic growth.
“Launching City Executive Search last year was the prelude to taking that growth to the next level, through a targeted and ambitious acquisition strategy.
“The next year will be crucial for us, and we are looking forward to the challenge and opportunities this new phase represents for our highly-committed team.”
