Celebrating 25 years in business

As Wales’ longest established specialist technology recruitment consultancy we wanted to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all our past and present work colleagues, candidates, contractors, hiring managers and clients that have helped shape IntaPeople over the past quarter of a century.

Transforming careers and supporting the growth of UK businesses for 25 years

25 years ago, on the 16^th September 1994, IntaPeople incorporated under the Companies Act 1985.

Since then we have helped over 6,000 people find new jobs, supported nearly 1,900 businesses with their hiring needs and contributed circa £104 million to the Welsh economy. We have also survived several recessions and achieved the fastest-growing company in Wales accolade in the Wales Fast Growth 50 awards.

A big thank you from IntaPeople Operations Director, Phil Handley

“I want to say a huge thank you to all our past and present work colleagues, candidates, contractors, hiring managers and clients that have helped shape IntaPeople over the past quarter of a century.

“You have all contributed to the longevity and success of our business and for that I personally thank you all.”

Phil Handley’s reflections from the past 25 years

As I sit in our office wondering where all that time has gone, here’s a few fond reflections……

For businesses around in the mid-90s there wasn’t a plethora of information at your fingertips, you couldn’t just hop online and find out everything about a potential customer. Our only means of daily communication with the outside world was the telephone on our desks or via face-to-face meetings.

I remember a client explaining to me that “one day police forces around the world will be able to take a picture of a crime scene and send that picture to another police force in another city via something called the internet” …. It was like being in an episode of Star Trek! “Beam me up Scottie”.

Marketing involved posting hard copy IntaPeople brochures to every potential/new client, which had been initially been produced ‘in house’ on our inkjet printer.

Companies didn’t have many options to advertise their jobs. We used to flick through the Western Mail and Daily Telegraph at the weekends, cutting out the job adverts to follow up on a Monday morning.

To attract candidates, we would then place an advert in the local job centre or business section of the local newspaper, then waiting for a few weeks for the postman to hand deliver suitable candidate CVs.

If we found a good candidate, we would have to call their home phone number, as most people didn’t have mobile phones. Usually speaking to their partner to find out what time they were home from work before calling back later in the evening.

There were no emails or LinkedIn, all business development started on the phone. We used to rely on the yellow pages and newspapers for local business contact details, and we recorded all our sales notes on index cards in cardboard boxes, with half a dozen different consultant’s handwriting on each; very different to the multi-functional digital customer databases we have now.

Years ago, I visited a client who had received 16 CVs via fax for one vacancy! Picture a huge roll of printed paper snaking around the floor and imagine the chaos it caused. I quickly realised that quality over quantity was such an important factor in recruitment and this is something that’s still prevalent in the way we do business now and will continue to for the next 25 years.

In 1994 we had: – A silvery blond conservative prime minister. The Pet Shop boys were on tour. Australia won the Ashes.

In 2019 we have: – A silvery blond conservative prime minister. The Pet Shop boys have announced another tour. And Australia have just retained the Ashes.

25 years on, the tech recruitment world has changed and advanced to keep up with the markets that we serve. It’s been an exciting journey, and I can’t wait to see what the next 25 years of technological advances will bring us!

Again, thank you all for working with us over the past 25 years, it’s been a technological blast!