SSK Recruitment set to expand internationally with two new Middle East offices

Regional recruitment agency, SSK Recruitment is set to expand internationally following its Peterlee and Bishop Aukland office openings.

With three recent contract wins in the oil and gas sector, SSK Recruitment is looking to open an office in Dubai and Erbil, Iraq, to help strengthen its footprint in the Middle East market.

Managing director, Adam Smith, said: “We opened a second office in Bishop Aukland last year and the plan was to open a third on Teesside in the second quarter of 2019.

“The North East market is very competitive and saturated with companies constantly trying to undercut each other. A lot of the national agencies have the bigger contracts tied in long term, so it’s very difficult for a smaller independent agency to get ahead.”

Adam continued: “You can make hundreds of sales calls a day like I’ve done myself as a consultant, but there are too many companies fishing out of the same pond and we feel that to get ahead, you have to think outside the box.

“With all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, we decided to focus on building relationships in the Middle East. The margins are significantly higher in the Middle East than here in the UK and we’ve been lucky that through existing relationships we’ve formed with our current clients, they have in turn recommended us to other companies.”

SSK Recruitment began working with Kaefer Ltd, based in Europe, in 2018. The agency also supplied projects across Norway, Holland and Egypt. Following on from those, it is now wanting to branch out into the Middle East market.

Adam added: “We recently got on to the supply chain of one of the largest drilling companies in the world and that contract requires a presence in Erbil, so we have meetings in April to look at offices there.

“Also, my business partners are currently looking at an office in Dubai, [which has] potential [for] hundreds of roles in the oil and gas sector in 2019.”

SSK Recruitment celebrated its one year anniversary recently and achieved its gross status in the first eight months of trading.

The company is now looking to engage with more companies in the oil and gas sector and are holding meetings over the next few months in the UK, Dubai and Iraq.

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