Over the fence

John Maxted started his career in HR. But it is as a leading HR recruiter that he has made his mark

John Maxted, the dynamic managing director of executive HR recruitment business Digby Morgan, could be described as a poacher turned gamekeeper. For although he has been in the staffing business for just about 20 years, he started his professional career working in HR for large blue chip organizations like BA and Accenture. While John worked in these sorts of roles for nearly a decade he began to feel that the environment was not exactly where he should be. “I was successful in HR but felt that it was not quite the right environment for me,” he remembers. “I felt that I would be able to express myself better working in my own enterprise, I knew a lot about recruitment and I had a view that HR people didn’t really understand the recruitment industry. When I came into the recruitment sector I brought a new perspective and hopefully some originality into our business.” And just as it is often said that reformed poachers make the best gamekeepers, John has made a phenomenal success of his two decades in staffing. Digby Morgan was founded in 1988, today it employs over 80 people and is one of the leading players in the HR recruitment space.

Changing times
Part of the reason for Digby Morgan’s success has been the change in the nature of the HR function itself which John has witnessed change beyond all recognition since the 1980s. “HR has become much more tangible and significant in terms of the bottom line,” he says. “20 years ago it was personnel and nobody was really sure of its value. It involved a lot of filing and a lot of paperwork. In the 21st century it has become central to successful organizations. In the new service economy, HR is central to both recruitment and retention.” John says that he has seen a number of changes affecting the HR function as time moves on. There are more HR board level appointments, the quality of people entering the profession is increasing and salary levels are pulling ahead of some other functions which they have traditionally lagged behind. A good entrepreneur, John seized the opportunity which he saw presented to him. Digby Morgan had begun life as a generalist search business in 1988. Seeing the changes that the business world was undergoing the company changed its focus to pure HR recruitment in 1998, a decade after it was founded.

International expansion
Things changed again for John and the company in 2006 as Digby Morgan became part of the Vedior Group one of the world’s largest recruitment outfits which includes the Blomfield Group and Albermarle among its brands. The move showed that while John had achievements behind him, he didn’t stop wanting more challenges and heights to aspire to. The backing of the Vedior Group allowed Digby Morgan to make its first international acquisition with the purchase of its long-standing Australian affiliate, HR Partners. Speaking at the time of the deal John said: “2007 is proving to be yet another exceptional year for the Digby Morgan Group both here in the UK and overseas. The Australian HR market is hugely buoyant and we have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with HR Partners that stretches back many years. The opportunities for growth in the region are significant and HR Partners will form the hub of a new Digby Morgan Asia Pacific network that we expect to grow both organically and through further acquisitions. The acquisition of our Australian affiliate is a natural first step in an international growth programme and is the launch pad of our long-term ambition and commitment to make Digby Morgan a global brand in HR recruitment. As part of the global Vedior Group ourselves we are exceptionally well placed to continue our growth overseas as this deal illustrates. However, we will not be taking our eye off the ball back here in the UK and will be making further announcements soon about Digby Morgan’s domestic UK growth - both in London and the regions.”

UK growth
The UK growth which John refers to is the opening of a new office in the Thames Valley this month. A team of experienced consultants operating out of prestigious new offices just outside of Reading will serve both the interim and permanent HR recruitment needs in the area. There are further plans for a new office in the North of England to be announced in due course. These impressive national and international growth plans have changed John’s role within the company. After years as a hands-on manager he has become more of a leader looking into growth opportunities for the business in international markets where there are synergies with other Vedior backed companies. But regardless of the size of the business or his role in it, John remains faithful to his view of how recruitment and particularly HR recruitment should work. “To succeed in this business it’s all about the relationships you build,” he says. “Candidates and clients are interwoven so a lot of it is building relationships – thetransactional recruitment model just won’t work.” He is also adamant on how the culture of his business should be. “We’re very transparent in how we manage our people. We have an open culture and a clear vision of where we are going which people can buy into. The boost which Vedior has given us is that we now have a global platform to launch from.” It is no mistake that John Maxted has become a success in the HR recruitment field. A natural communicator his enthusiasm for the business remains undimmed after two decades. With new international business to chase you find yourself thinking that he hasn’t finished yet. There will be more growth to come, more mountains to climb, more deals to be done. You can be sure of that.