UK Enterprise 2020

14 | UK Enterprise Awards 2020 Of all the industries that dot the British business landscape, recruiters were arguably the most well-equipped to handle the mass exodus of workforces to remote and online working from home scenarios. However, that does not mean that they did not face their own challenges or find themselves in need of expert leadership. That was the case for new firm Hamilton Woods Associates, spearheaded by Vijay Patel. Today, we find out more about how this firm navigated the most unprecedented first twelve months of its life and came out the other end in a place of great success. Best Accountancy & Finance Recruitment Firm 2020 - Midlands Jun20372 Most people are familiar with the phrase, ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. That could not be truer than for one Loughborough-based businessman, Vijay Patel. Even before the roller coaster of COVID-19 came to haunt the British business landscape, Mr Patel found himself in a state of flux. His business had teetered on the brink of total collapse before the newly formed specialist recruitment firm, Hamilton Woods Associates, took off in the most magnificent of manners. Now proudly celebrating its one-year anniversary, Hamilton Woods Associates can be a story of hope to reassure and encourage other businesses and individuals facing adversity, whether they be employers grappling with furlough, or candidates looking for a job. The message that Mr Patel and the first-year story that Hamilton Woods Associates has for anyone looking for inspiration is clear: hope and eventual success is just around the corner. Having worked as a professional advisor for more than fifteen years across a variety of SMEs and recruitment firms, Mr Patel set up Hamilton Woods Associates in May 2019. The firm specialises in executive recruitment and executive searches for accountancy and financing personnel. When working with money and numbers, it is important to have somebody in a position of leadership that can be trusted, is exceptionally good at what they do, and able to guide others in proper processes and procedures. Accountancy and financial searches for personnel at a leadership and executive level is a niche market, and there has been a gap left there by local agencies. Hamilton Woods Associates fills this gap perfectly and does so to an unbeatable standard across the Midlands, Peterborough, London and the wider United Kingdom. After what can only be described as a shaky start in the second half of 2019, the firm has actually gone from strength to strength in the last six to eight months. Now, Hamilton Woods Associates has been able to move into profit, by filling numerous positions for clients all over the county and the country as a whole. From accountants to auditors, to finance directors both at home and further afield, the firm has been able to help others during what has been an understandably difficult and tricky time for workforces everywhere. Positive cashflow in the last twelve months has enabled Vijay and his team at Hamilton Woods Associates to seek larger premises at their amazing new offices in Castle Donington. Though the plans were to move into the offices in June, the mere fact that the firm is looking within its first year of trading can be considered a milestone in the company’s brief history that will no doubt prove vital as it continues to offer its outstanding service. It is not just financial success that Vijay has engineered either. The team at Hamilton Woods Associates has also grown to eight people, in a business model that provides executive, interim, qualified, professional services and financial services across a variety of clients. What really sets Hamilton Woods Associates apart from its competitors and other agencies working in similar fields is its Total Service approach. Vijay has been keen to push forward that working in this industry is about more than simply finding an individual that might be a perfect fit for a role. Instead, the Total Service approach that Hamilton Woods Associates takes includes consultation, job specification preparation, advertising, and end-to-end candidate screening, for maximum profitability and return on investment from the client’s perspective. The totality and complete nature of what the firm offers cannot be compared The firm specialises in executive recruitment and executive searches for accountancy and financing personnel. Now, Hamilton Woods Associates has been able to move into profit, by filling numerous positions for clients all over the county and the country as a whole.