Member Article

A festive chat with… Salman Iftekhar and Michael Gadsby, co-founders of Staffing Match

2015 has been a very exciting year for us at Bdaily. We expanded into the South East and continued to grow our presence in the North East, Yorkshire and North West. To celebrate, we are launching a series of festive features, giving businesses across the UK the chance to share their highlights, challenges and insight from 2015, while looking ahead to the coming year.

Co-founders of Staffing Match, Salman Iftekhar and Michael Gadsby, have the honour of kicking off our series in London and the South East. Launched by the duo in 2014, the Hounslow-based recruitment firm is going from strength to strength, having reported £17m turnover for this year.

2015 – Looking back

What were the highlights for your business in 2015?

“There are many highlights for 2015; from winning new business, building new divisions within our team and employing new people, opening new branches to name a few - If I had to single out one moment, it would be winning Best New Business and Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2015 Hounslow Business Awards, which was recognition for all the hard work put in from our team in making our business a success”

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently this year?

“I have no regrets about any business decisions made this year – so I would have to say no!”

How has your industry changed in the last year?

“The recruitment industry is forever changing, with new laws and legislations imposed within our industry. In terms of specific change, we are experiencing higher volumes of Eastern European labour to previous years.”

2016 – Moving forward

What are your key focuses for next year?

“Our focus is to maintain the business we already have. That is our priority. We cannot become complacent and need to ensure that before bringing on new business, which is always nice, that the service levels are not compromised with our existing client base.”

What are you most looking forward to in 2016?

“I am most looking forward to seeing how things develop within our Driving division in Bristol, our newly-formed construction department based at Head Office, and also our operation in Germany fully taking off. Each will present their own challenges but we trust the people we employ to deliver results in their respective divisions, with the backing of senior management and directors of the company. Other than that…I think a nice, long summer break is in order!”

What do you expect will be your biggest challenge in the coming year?

“I expect the Living Wage which comes into play from April 2016 to have a huge impact. How labour users and labour providers manage this is yet to be seen and I am expecting some teething problems as labour users and labour providers seek to keep cost low.”

The softer stuff

If you could go back in time, which piece of advice would you give your younger self?

“I would advise myself to just keep going – weather the storm. You never know what is around the corner and do not count yourself out at any time or limit yourself to what you believe you are capable of achieving – aim high.”

How will you be celebrating the festive period?

“I’ll be celebrating the festive period with my family – toasting to the success of 2015. “

If you’d like to take part in our festive series, please get in touch direct - ellen.forster@bdaily.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .