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Ged Walsh is the Founder and MD of Everpool Recruitment, an industry-leading multi-sector national permanent recruitment specialist based in Liverpool, UK.
Ged has over thirty years of experience in the recruitment sector and has led several businesses during that time. He launched Everpool Recruitment, and knowing the value of marketing and the impact of building a brand, he was keen to build internal marketing capability and commercial impact, with direction, from the start.
As a result, he contacted Superfast Recruitment and invested in Superfast Circle and additional coaching.
What led you to set up Everpool Recruitment, your current and still relatively new recruitment business?
I’ve had different recruitment businesses since 2000. Some have worked exceptionally well, but then they changed due to economic crises or market shifts.
I’ve experienced retail moving from bricks to clicks, the financial crash of 2008, merging with a legal business, turning around a health and social care business, and growing a permanent recruitment division for a large temporary staffing company.
After de-merging from that business, we landed at Everpool, a multi-sector permanent recruitment business. Because we had an existing base of clients and people, we only had a week to think of a name and brand.
Our marketing was on the back foot from the start. When you open a business, you’re the CEO, but you’re also the marketing director, the finance director, and the ops director. You have to wear many hats and upskill quickly.
Why did you choose to bring in a marketing apprentice rather than outsource to an agency?
If you build somebody internally, they should understand the basic principles of what we do. Our marketing individual came from a resource background and understood the company’s values, behaviours, and culture.
By working with Superfast Circle, we can have someone coach, develop, and provide resources for our internal person.
Each business is unique, and the service we get from you is that you understand our business. You can provide tailored advice on various aspects like the website, brand development, or specific coaching needs for our marketing person.
If you understand our brand and the individual running it, who is oriented towards it, with Everpool running through their veins, that’s the difference compared to outsourcing to an agency.
What have you achieved as a business with your marketing and brand as a result of working together?
We are developing our brand and marketing through and with you, and we have a plan for where we want to be over a specific time period. This includes sophisticating the brand, ways of working, culture, and product offerings.
We’ve developed a portfolio of products we offer our clients, allowing us to have meaningful conversations about our services. We’ve improved our website to be more user-friendly and approachable. We’ve also worked on personal branding with the Superfast Circle training for myself and how I represent the business externally.
How have you seen your marketing person grow while working with Superfast Circle?
They fully understand marketing in the modern environment from a recruitment perspective. It’s not just social media; it’s about how your brand’s culture and behaviour are presented to the external world.
Our marketer now works with different departments and account managers across various sectors, bringing those divisions forward.
They’ve learned to edit content, train others on LinkedIn posting, and use various marketing tools. Most importantly, they’ve become innovative and creative, suggesting what we should do as a business and brand instead of waiting to be told what to do.
This growth comes through your coaching and development of the individual.
How does having access to resources like content and campaigns help your marketer manage their time and deliver for you?
It allows account managers to get involved in content creation by listening during sessions. Our marketing person can have a session with you and then brief that session out to others;
It saves so much time too that they can spend in other areas.
While recruitment principles remain the same across sectors, the marketing resources help us tailor our approach to different niches while maintaining consistency in our overall strategy.
How has your experience exceeded your expectations since you first started working with Superfast Circle?
The organization and planning every year have been impressive. The 90-day plan, while ambitious, helps us consider what we’re going to do and when we’ll implement it. The Superfast Circle Live Event greatly impacts us, allowing us to talk to others and learn from shared challenges.
It lets us stay at the forefront of what works in this digitally transformed market. The impact has been bigger than I initially expected because it’s not just about marketing; it affects how we operate and trade as a business overall.
How do your company’s values align with Superfast Circle, and how has that helped in working together?
Our values align well, focusing on integrity, trust, openness, and honesty. We both believe in allowing people to have opinions and a voice, encouraging creativity. Your approach to coaching our marketing individual aligns with our trust, integrity, development, inclusivity, and collaboration values.
We aim to work with clients and partners who share similar values because it creates a synergy in reaching our goals. It’s about being genuine, honest, and sincere in our approach to business and people.
What would you say to someone who’s considering joining Superfast Circle?
I’d ask them to consider why they’re thinking about it! Write down what marketing is and what you think you need from it. Then, have a conversation with Sharon or Denise about your business needs.
Even if you think you can do it yourself, ask why you haven’t done it already.
Don’t wait until you’re struggling before getting marketing advice and support. It’s beneficial to have a marketing strategy and an internal marketing person coached by experts who understand your brand.
Be prepared to take their feedback and suggestions on board, even if it’s challenging at first. If you’re not ready to listen to and implement expert advice, it might not be the right time for you.
Lastly, don’t wait to focus on marketing until you’re in trouble. Start from the outset to support your business and consistently promote your brand.
Recommendation
I expected working with Superfast Circle and Sharon and Denise to be good because of their level of experience in the industry and in sales and marketing.
I hadn’t expected how well it would support the business and our marketing journey. It lets us stay at the forefront of what works in this digitally transformed market.
The impact has been bigger than I initially expected because it’s not just about marketing; it affects how we operate and trade as a business overall.
To learn more about working with Superfast Recruitment, joining Superfast Circle, and our private coaching, book a call here.
