Why Chris Harvey is client of the company he leads
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Chris
Harvey is not your typical managing director.
He runs one of the country's largest family-owned recruitment
companies which was founded in Kent. But he is not a salaried
employee.
Company chairman Jack Parkinson hired him to take the business
to new levels - it is close to achieving sales of £90m - but
instead of being on the payroll, Harvey is a client.
Harvey invoices the company for his services. This arrangement
allows him to work for other companies. But he says it does not
diminish his commitment to HR GO. Far from it. "I changed my life
at 35. I probably work harder living the way I do than if I was
employed. If I don't produce, they can terminate the contract
without paying out loads of money."
He believes the ability to work with other companies enhances
his HR GO role through "cross-fertilisation" of ideas.
He says the arrangement does not mean he has any less emotional
attachment to the role. He is also a shareholder and allocates all
the time it needs. "I have to work at 110 per cent every hour of
the day."
The chartered accountant has become something of a turnaround
specialist. He worked with EMC corporate finance and interim
management specialists in Maidstone on troubled smaller
enterprises. "I'm probably a useless accountant but I'm quite good
with people and understand most things financial and legal. I ended
up helping people running their businesses."
That experience was useful to Jack Parkinson, son of the company
founder Betty, who set up the Parkinson Staff Bureau in Dartford
more than 50 years ago. Mr Parkinson was preparing to step down -
he is now semi-retired - and wanted to place the company in good
hands at a time of radical change in recruitment.
He had built the business by organic growth and acquisition,
usually establishing a joint venture with acquired companies, a
model that is slowly changing as more businesses are absorbed fully
within HR GO.
The Plc operates across most recruitment sectors, and is
especially strong in industrial, construction, food processing and
production - it recruits for Thanet Earth - drivers, warehousing
and logistics. It employed some 5,500 temps in the run-up to
Christmas.
In 2008, recession was looming. The recruitment business is a
good economic weather vane and Mr Harvey knew things were bad when,
after a good first half, "things fell off a cliff" after September.
Profitability dipped. "We had to save a quarter of a million pounds
of costs per month for the business to survive."
HR GO shed around 100 staff from its 430-strong headcount,
around 20 in Kent. "It was really tough but we survived the worst
of it. Things came back and we started to focus on marketing,
branding, training and IT."
The company has since taken on more people and the headcount is
up to 390 as it develops new services, including HR and IT
resources available to third party clients.
Rising unemployment suggests that permanent jobs are harder to
find and that is mirrored by HR GO's findings. Mr Harvey says the
temp side is going well, but he expects permanent jobs to return in
due course.
The business has gone through a lot of change under Harvey, with
a new HR outsourcing consultancy service and white collar division.
Its IT division Eclipse offers outsourced services.
While HR GO has joint ventures with many acquired companies,
some are being absorbed into the company. HR GO operates 55
branches, all now branded HR GO.
Mr Harvey pays tribute to Jack Parkinson who now lives a lot of
his time abroad and is much more hands-off. "I've got the greatest
respect for anybody who can build something like this." But Harvey
is not copying Jack in one key area - his outspoken criticism of
Kent County Council's commercial services and the way the council
competed with the private sector.
Mr Harvey is more relaxed. ""It's not an issue for me. You have
to get on with the situation."
Tuesday, March 08 2011
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