The big question…“Aren’t all recruitment companies much the same?

We spoke to Lewis Booth, Resourcing Director at Procter Street, and asked the big question – aren’t all recruitment services much the same?

Q: Can you sum up the main reason Procter Street’s resourcing services are different… genuinely different, to others in the construction sector?

A: Yes, it’s quite an easy thing to answer. We’re a construction and civil engineering consultancy that has an extensive network of clients and candidates who we’re able to introduce to each other, we’re not a recruitment company as such.

Q: Did you set out to get involved in recruitment?

A: It’s not really recruitment as most people understand it. We have worked with all kinds of organisations across construction and civils for a long time now. Bringing people together was borne out of the work-winning cycle of work that Procter Street provides. It’s a natural part of the process.

Q: Where does resourcing fit within work-winning?

A: At both ends really. If a business has had success in certain areas and we’ve helped to put the right people in place, they can go looking for similar projects. Similarly, if a client wins a new bid but needs the talent to mobilise it, we can help there too, it’s really exciting to make that happen.

Q: What kinds of people do you know or are able to find?

A: Within construction it tends to be the professionals, and especially those that are sometimes trickier to find. We fill all kinds of roles including estimators, quantity surveyors, planners, site engineers, project managers – the complete range. We have some excellent people in our network.

Q: Are you always looking for people?

A: All the time, you can’t keep fishing in the same pond, so we are always seeing who is out there. We love to headhunt – it really flatters people that we have spotted their credentials and want to connect. They’re interesting as they’re not specifically looking to move roles but we keep in touch for the future. We’re very pro-active and love to hear from clients or candidates, it helps us build our portfolio of contacts.

Q: How competitive is the construction industry?

A: At a senior level it’s very competitive so we tend to focus on one position at a time, giving it our complete attention. That way, we know we’ve done our best for each vacancy or candidate. We’re not in this for a high turnover of people - it’s more to do with cementing relationships and doing a thorough job with each placement.

Q: Do you only resource full-time roles? 

A: Oh no, we have many different options, depending completely on what the client needs. We take a consultative attitude with each role so we really understand the brief. Full-time, part-time, interim, permanent, project based – but nearly always for professional roles. We also recruit internally for Procter Street staff – it’s a rapidly growing business so we’re employing people regularly. Some of our specialist staff enjoy going on secondment to work with our clients as well – we like to share the talent!

Q: What do you most enjoy about resourcing for Procter Street clients?

A: It’s good to make a difference to our clients, especially if our resourcing services leads to them winning or mobilising a project. Everything we do at Procter Street has a ripple effect on other parts of the business - from our opportunity finder; to bid and tender support; through to finding people to complete the work-winning cycle. We evolved as a division almost by accident because we were naturally putting people in touch with each other – it was a happy accident as it works for everyone.