UNHELPFUL STATE OF AFFAIRS

Stefan Ciecierski - Director and owner Nakama Gloabal

Our industry has a lot of entrepreneurs in it, and we have more recruiters per square 100 yards in London than anywhere else in the world. There are many many owners of businesses big and small who have taken the risk to create their own recruitment company, some stay small and independent and some go on to grow and grow, but directors in our business are almost always business starters. However, I find it amazing that this is mostly done with very little support and encouragement from the state.

My partners and I started our company Nakama at the end of 2009.We funded it ourselves and a year later have offices in 5 countries, we have employed 25 people and we made a tidy profit. All well and good, but with absolutely nothing that could be construed as help from the state.

In the same period I can think of 5 different recruiters who started their own businesses in mainland Europe, all of whom were given major cash incentives by their countries. The most frequent incentive seems to be that the state pays their last salary for a period of time without ever asking for it back. In one case for two years! In all cases the entrepreneur had to submit a business plan, stay off benefits and employ at least one person when profits allowed. In the UK we hunted high and low for some kind of help but found nothing, not a tax break, a tax holiday, an incentive to hire people, nothing. We did get, and still do get, hundreds of letters from different tax, VAT and employment bodies around the country all demanding their wedge, with absolutely zero sympathy for our struggling start up cash flow situation. Finding space without coming up with a colossal deposit was a major challenge, as was finding a factoring company who would entertain a new client conversation in the teeth of the recession. The banks were miserable too, I spent many hours trying to find a home for a cash deposit and all I had were refusals and lectures about money laundering and terrorism until I was referred to a friendly banker through a personal route.

So, maybe all that pain is a good thing as if you can survive starting a recruitment business in the UK you must be pretty good. However, I think it is more likely that our poor business support environment puts people off at the start or helps them go bust! I can think of a few businesses right now on the verge of going bust, but all they are suffering from is cash flow difficulties rather than not enough profit. We were stung twice last year by clients deciding to go bust rather than pay their bills and they started up next door the next day with just a slightly different name, and that is legal!

Entrepreneurs will always be there trying but too many will fail unless they get help.