Amplifying Recruitment - Learn, Grow, Lead

Every recruitment business owner who's ever pulled a freelance role in a new country has done the same thing, jumped straight to the margin calculator and started dreaming. Very few have stopped to ask whether they can actually get the money in and out. In this episode, Jamie Burrows sits down with Carl Chinnapen, co-founder of EWI Global Talent Solutions, to break down the four pillars behind...

Most recruitment businesses are still using the free version of ChatGPT to write job ads and calling it an AI strategy. Meanwhile, their candidates are running automated tools overnight to fire off a thousand applications before breakfast. That gap between what recruiters think AI is and what it's already doing to their market is where the real disruption is happening. In this episode, Jamie B...

Scott Ellam didn't fall into recruitment. He chose it, deliberately, after watching recruitment company owners spend money in the bars he worked at during university in Leeds. By 24, he'd started Spencer Riley. By 25, he'd tracked down a business owner through their Portuguese holiday villa, got invited onto a yacht called "Loose Change," and was offered a role with a company...

Most recruitment business owners know they should be creating content. Very few actually do it and even fewer stick with it long enough to see results. In this episode, Jamie sits down with Will Colthup, videographer and content consultant who works almost exclusively with recruitment businesses, to cut through the noise on what it actually takes to build a content presence that wins you clients....

John Gaughan built Finlay James into an 80-person recruitment business with offices in Manchester, London, Chicago and San Francisco. Then he had to close it. In this episode, Jamie Burrows sits down with John to hear the full, unfiltered story of what went wrong and more importantly, what he's learned from it. John doesn't dodge any of it. He walks through how the business went from billing half...

Most recruitment companies have a marketing problem. But it's not the one they think it is. It's not that the content isn't good enough. It's not that they're on the wrong platform. It's that marketing and sales are operating as two completely separate functions and nobody's bridging the gap. In this episode, Jamie Burrows sits down with Sam Rasdall, founder of Potent,...

Most recruiters don’t wake up worrying about umbrella legislation. They’re thinking about placements, clients, and keeping the desk moving. But a major change coming in April could quietly put recruitment businesses on the hook for millions in unpaid tax if they get one decision wrong. In this episode, I’m joined by Sean White , Managing Director at Omnia Outsourcing . Sean started his career in i...

Most recruitment leaders are telling their teams to “get back to basics”. The problem is, half the team has no idea what the basics even are anymore. The market has changed. The tools have changed. Attention spans have changed. And quietly, motivation has taken a hit. In this episode of Amplifying Recruitment, we get into why modern recruiters are struggling to do the hard work that actually drive...

Most recruiters talk about growth. Very few talk about what happens when it all collapses. This episode is a raw look at what it actually takes to rebuild after losing everything. Not a pivot story. Not a highlight reel. A real one. Jamie sits down with Paul Micallef, founder of Pegasus Search & Selection, to unpack his journey from starting his first recruitment business at 24, scaling fast i...

Most recruiters feel the same frustration. You want the freedom to build your own book, keep more of your fees, and skip the endless admin that eats half your week. But the moment you try to go solo, you hit the wall: operations, finance, legal, tech, insurance, contracts. It’s overwhelming. In this episode, Cosmo Currey returns to unpack the 75 percent commission model behind Van Kaizen and answe...

Recruiters are bracing for the biggest shift to workers’ rights in a generation. Sick pay from day one. New rules for zero-hours workers. Tighter controls around umbrellas. More liability pushed onto agencies. And a brand-new enforcement body ready to chase non-compliance. To unpack all of this, Jamie sits down with Simon Bloch, Partner and Head of Employment at JMW Solicitors. Simon has spent yea...

A year after buying out Peace Recruitment through an MBO, Alison Blake, Craig Wishart, and Lewis Potter join Will to share what the first 12 months have really been like, the highs, the setbacks, and what it takes to lead through change. Alison Blake, Craig Wishart, and Lewis Potter are the co-owners of Peace Recruitment , a Scotland-based construction and property recruitment firm. Following thei...

The education recruitment industry is changing fast. Falling pupil numbers. New frameworks. Evolving payroll legislation. A tighter, more competitive market than ever before. In this episode of Amplifying Recruitment, host Jamie Burrows sits down with Alex Westworth, CEO of Now Education, to unpack where the industry is heading and what it means for agencies, consultants, and leaders. Alex’s story...

Recruiters put in the work. They build relationships, manage clients and candidates, and drive placements but too often, their pay and career paths don’t reflect the effort. They’re left with two choices: take on management roles they don’t want or go solo and face the challenges of isolation. Cosmo Currey decided there had to be another way. He founded Van Kaizen , a global recruitment firm where...

Backdoor hires. Restrictive covenants. Exiting your business without it all falling apart. Most recruiters hope these issues never land on their desk – but when they do, the consequences can be brutal. That’s why in this episode of Amplifying Recruitment we sat down with Barry Cullen , founder of RecLaw and one of the UK’s leading recruitment lawyers. Barry has seen it all from clients claiming th...

Buying your mum’s business sounds like a dream but for Laura Clark, it came with pressure she’d never felt before. In this conversation, Laura opens up about the emotional rollercoaster of buying OA through an MBO. She shares how leading with fear nearly broke the business, and the mindset shifts that helped her rebuild confidence and momentum. We get into the realities of hiring and culture, why...

Most recruiters don’t last seven months without billing. George Wilson did and says it’s the best thing that ever happened to him. In this episode, George shares his journey from 21-year-old resourcer to Sales Director of Principal People all within the same business. He breaks down the mindset and environment that helped him grow, and what he looks for in high performers today. We talk about how...

If your recruiters are still only asking for feedback after a placement, you’re missing the point and bleeding revenue. In this episode, we’re joined by Justin Hillier , founder of Recruiter Insider a feedback platform that’s spent years proving how candidate and client experience directly impacts performance. Justin shares the origin story of the business (it started with a terrible cold call), w...

In this episode, we dive into offshore recruitment in South Africa, hiring remote recruiters, and how UK agencies are saving costs and scaling faster. Jamie interviews Elliott Manning , MD of Kayman Recruitment Group and Vertrou Outsourcing, to uncover the real story behind the shift. You’ll learn: Why South African recruiters outperform on mindset and delivery How UK recruitment firms are using o...

Most recruiters don’t charge enough. But the problem isn’t your clients. It’s you. In this episode, Jamie sits down with Jon Brooks, the Founder of The Value Advantage and Pricing Consultant to the recruitment industry. They unpack why most agencies still sell with one-size-fits-all pricing, and how that holds them back from higher fees, better clients, and long-term growth. Jon breaks down: Why r...

Too many agencies are throwing tech at the problem and wondering why it’s not working. This week, I’m joined by Saeed Bor, recruitment ops expert and the man behind the “process > tech” mantra. Si’s worked on the tools, scaled ops teams, and now consults with recruitment agencies across the UK to help them fix the stuff that actually matters. No fluff, no hype just smart process, systems thinki...

Welcome to the Amplifying Recruitment podcast.  Join your host, Jamie Burrows, and Jo Major, the Founder of Diversity in Recruitment, as they discuss the impact that ED&I training can have on recruiters’ services and business outcomes.  Jo is a passionate advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion within recruitment, and she has built a career around training other recruiters on the best p...

Welcome to the Amplifying Recruitment podcast.  In this episode, your host, Jamie Burrows, is joined by Leadership Consultant Amy Williams to talk about the qualities that make up a great leader.  Amy explains why so many recruiters often fall into leadership roles, often without the right training or experience, and shares her advice for people who find themselves in that situation.  Throughout t...

Welcome to the Amplifying Recruitment podcast.  Your Host, Jamie Burrows, is joined in this episode by Leo Harrison, the Founder of Chapter 2, to talk about his unique business model and innovative take on recruitment practices.  During the conversation, Leo shares the three pillars that have led his company to success; an embedded talent model, a solid tech stack and a content creation team.  He...

Welcome to the Amplifying Recruitment podcast.  In this episode, your host, Jamie Burrows, and Chris Worden, the Head Problem Solver at Director First, explore why 18% of UK recruitment companies stopped trading in 2024.  Chris did a deep dive on all the financial pitfalls that recruitment leaders fall foul of, from not separating tax money for HMRC to not fully understanding their company’s cash...