87. Lovework

Founder: Catherine Kennard
Founded: January 2013
Website: www.loveworkuk.co.uk

Winner of the Freelance and Home-Based Business of the Year award at the Startups Awards 2013 and a Startups Top 20 winner, Lovework is one of those start-ups playing a crucial role in the UK’s enterprise landscape. 27 year-old Catherine Kennard’s recruitment consultancy is focused squarely on helping fast-growing start-ups fill vacant positions with exceptional candidates, helping UK success stories such as onefinestay, PayasUgym and BEAR Nibbles find the perfect employee for them.

Started on a shoestring budget of just £10,000, Lovework generated hugely impressive profits in its first year of trading. These figures and its achievements to date are in part, Kennard says, to an increase in entrepreneurialism and popularity of start-up careers, with the company “flooded with CVs [from people] more than happy to take a significant drop in salary to have a more interesting role in an entrepreneurial business.” Now working with around 50 start-ups, Lovework plans to build on its extremely strong position by raising awareness amongst candidates and employers alike, with an expectation to quadruple turnover from last year.