Business studies graduate Chris Reidy would be the first to admit that he fell almost by chance into the recruitment game. ‘When I graduated, most of the jobs paying decent money were in recruitment.’ Reidy, now 28, signed up with a small IT recruitment agency in Holborn in 2002 and two months later had moved to a large City rival, Huxley Associates, where he quickly built up a reputation as a star performer.

‘I was their highest billing consultant for permanent candidates and I was promoted twice to senior consultant.’ All this amid a very tight market. ‘The market was dead,’ Reidy says. ‘But it taught me the value of good client relationships and when the market turned around I got the payback.’

In December 2005, Reidy made the decision to set up on his own, but took a year out to travel before the career leap. ‘I made good friends with the back office staff at Huxley and learned all about the financial stuff that went on in the background of the business.

In February 2007, after a year travelling, Reidy set up Onside Appointments Ltd.
A £30,000 cash injection from two private investors, one of whom had a 15-year track record in the recruitment industry, allowed Reidy to build the right infrastructure to underpin his business. ‘I wanted it to be as dynamic as a top City recruitment firm. I invested in City lawyers and accountants and we have nice offices off Caledonian Road, and cutting edge IT systems and recruitment software.’ Around £12,000 of that money was spent on deals with major job sites to advertise and search their CV databases.

The business started trading in June, with a clearly defined remit ­ permanent IT recruitment with a focus on IT support and infrastructure, targeting London and the South East. ‘I wanted to stick to the area I had experience in ­ it doesn’t pay to spread yourself too thinly,’ he says.

Reidy wants to differentiate himself from the competition by making his agency as ethical as possible. ‘I want to build a reputation for working hard for clients and job seekers.’ He has invested in membership of industry association, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which he believes helps to give clients confidence in the service they will receive.

Onside Appointments has been trading for six months and the figures are well ahead of Reidy’s initial forecasts. He’s expecting a first-year profit of more than £100,000 on turnover of around £140,000. ‘We’re getting a good reputation and the spread of clients is good.’

But Reidy is conscious of the cyclical nature of the recruitment market. He’s keen to expand and take on recruitment consultants at the start of his next financial year in March, but wonders how he will know when his business is commercially viable enough to take on staff. ‘Is there a rule of thumb,’ he asks.

As and when he decides to take on staff, he also questions what their focus should be? Would he be better off taking on experienced consultants with the same background, or should they focus on a new area of business, albeit IT related? Or is there an argument for expanding into a different but lucrative recruitment field such as HR or sales? The other option is to recruit someone with no experience and train them.

Increasing Onside’s client base is another area Reidy’s keen for advice on. ‘A lot of business has been generated through old contacts, and the business is expanding through word of mouth.’ But what other ways are there to raise the profile of the business without joining the ranks of recruiters that spend their whole time cold calling. ‘I want to increase branding awareness, and one way to do that is to invest more in advertising. But then should I take on staff to pre-empt an influx of new work or wait until the work comes in, which could affect my reputation if I can’t then fulfil.’

The main challenges:

• Are they any rules of thumb for expansion?

• Is there scope to expand into HR or sales?

• How can the company's profile be raised without cold calling?

• Is it better to invest in staff or brand awareness?

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