People’s Champion Finalist: Dartmouth Partners

Start-up name: Dartmouth Partners
Founder: Logan Naidu, 36
Started in: 2012
Based in: London
Business description: Recruitment company

The Dartmouth Partners story:

Having started on a more traditional career path, working at JPMorgan and PWC, Logan Naidu moved into recruitment after recognising a gap in the market – founding The Cornell Partnership.

After discovering a few flaws in the business and realising the opportunity was so much bigger than he originally realised, he exited and launched Dartmouth Partners. Dartmouth introduced the ‘Classroom to Boardroom’ model, with the aim to mentor candidates throughout their careers and to encourage businesses to invest in future talent.

The move seems a smart one and in less than three years revenues for the elite recruiter of graduate and sub-director talent has leaped into the multi-million bracket.

“With the huge range of recruitment agencies out there, it was important that our business model and approach to the industry allowed us to stand out,” the company’s entry states. “As such, we focus on identifying elite talent and recruit individuals with an outstanding academic or professional background into firms who understand that hiring the best talent available delivers a competitive edge.”

It’s a model that’s working. Named by Growing Business as a Young Gun in 2013, Naidu’s Dartmouth Partners has already placed over 200 individuals into new roles. Internally, the company’s size has swelled from 10 to 25 people.

“Every recruitment firm says that they act for the ‘long term’, however, few have it embedded in their business model and it’s at the heart of our success. By capturing the best talent on campus we are able to track each generation’s future leaders as their career advances.”

Such credentials, revenue and profit growth, and a roster of institutional clients, helped to mark Dartmouth Partners out for the Startups 100 earlier in the year, with the company’s ranking rising from 17th to ninth.

Furthermore, Naidu expects to see company headcount almost double by 2015.

Why  Dartmouth Partners made our 50:

In a highly fragmented industry, which frequently spawns fast-rising businesses, it’s notable that Dartmouth Partners believes it is the “fastest growing recruitment company in the UK and one of the fastest growing private companies”.

Where to find out more about Dartmouth Partners:

Website: www.dartmouthpartners.com