We met up with East Midlands Reserve Forces & Cadets Association the other week and Stewart Thorpe, Head of Communications interviewed RecruitME's very own Howard Rudder.
We recently celebrated 9 years in business so this interview/article couldn't have come at a better time, we're a veteran-owned recruitment company based in the centre of Grantham just off the market square in Lindpet house.
Howard said “A few hours after we opened I remember the phone rang and we looked at each other like ‘what do we do now?’ We had this massive buzz.”
Recruitment is a huge industry, Everyone says they have great customer service and great candidates but the Armed Forces link give us our unique selling point.
Over the years we’ve built up a reputation, certainly in the Midlands, as the go-to recruitment company for Service Leavers looking for new roles.
Service personnel go through their whole careers training, so they have an ability to get up to speed quickly, as well as a raft of transferrable skills. They have a great work ethic and are very loyal to an organisation.
We can find good Transport Managers, Cyber Security Specialists, and educate clients about the value Armed Forces personnel add to businesses.
Having been through the process ourselves and having had knockbacks, we understand what they’re going through,” added Howard, who said his team celebrate with a ‘hurrah’ every time they secure employment for Armed Forces personnel.
Recognising the value they add to the workplace, RecruitME has previously hired Veterans and a Military Spouse themselves. They have also introduced HR policies, such as additional leave, to ensure Armed Forces personnel are not disadvantaged by their service.
And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also nurtured relationships with local Army units and have sponsored a boxing and an athletics competition.
Helping and hiring Service Leavers, Military Spouses and Reservists, both themselves and for their clients, has proved a winning formula for Howard and Chris’ thriving business – it’s even enshrined in their motto: ‘when heroes are hired, business grows stronger’.
For their tireless work advocating Armed Forces personnel within and outside of their business, RecruitME was nominated for a Silver Award in the Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) in 2016.
Further validating their approach and their advocacy for ERS, in 2020 they became one of the first Lincolnshire businesses to win the Gold Award.
We’re very proud of the Gold Award and talk about it all of the time,” said Howard. “ERS has raised our profile and certainly open doors and raises your profile as a micro business.
We’ve just celebrated our ninth anniversary and I am so proud our team continues to live up to our values and pledges and remain great advocates of the Employer Recognition Scheme across the East Midlands.
We advocate the importance of the scheme and the great value the Armed Forces community can add workplaces to every company and organisation we meet.
“We’ve very much been a part of the scheme since day one and I’m so proud it continues to be a great part of our journey.”
For the full interview check out Help, hire and thrive: Leading Forces advocates RecruitME practise what they preach on the East Midlands Reserve Forces & Cadets Association website!
