28. Talentful

Founders: Phil Blaydes and Chris Abbass
Founded: July 2015 (launched October 2015)
Website: www.talentful.co

In an industry with that targets hitting KPIs and earning commission as opposed to helping companies make great hires, Talentful claims to represent a new breed of recruitment agency. Having experienced what it views as a flawed model first hand, recruitment professionals Phil Blaydes and Chris Abbass decided to turn it on its head.

In October 2015 the enterprising duo launched Talentful to serve fast-growth tech companies. An uncommon model, Talentful’s recruiters are sent to work in-house as part of the client companies, immersing themselves in company culture and gaining a true understanding of the type of people who would fit the business best.

Furthermore, instead of charging clients fees for successful placements, the start-up charges a fixed monthly sum which covers unlimited hiring and cuts costs to the client. And with no promise of commission, Talentful’s 25 recruiters are motivated by finding the perfect hires rather than taking home a cheque.

Blaydes and Abbass knew they were on to something good when they signed their first big client, Zopa, on a 12-month contract, and went on to make 64 hires for the business alongside saving it almost £300,000 in agency fees. Talentful has now worked with an impressive 53 clients, including Audible, Nutmeg, ClearScore and DubSmash.

Impressively, Talentful is already profitable despite having raised no investment at all, and is projecting £1.6m turnover for 2017. Looking to double in size by the end of this year, the start-up plans to expand internationally, and has already signed its first clients in New York and Berlin, continuing to work towards its goal of “spearheading a disruption of the recruitment industry”.