The executive-level recruitment company, which was founded in 2007 and has a 40-strong team of Recruiters based in Dubai, has seen near 100 per cent increase in its turnover in the last year as a result of strong growth in its client base.
In the last twelve months it has placed 211 candidates including significant volume projects for Middle East giant, Al Habtoor Group. In the last quarter alone, First Resort has secured 19 new clients including a project for the Carrefour Hypermarkets to place more than 50 senior professionals in a range of roles.
With more than 200 respected clients including BMW, Hilton Hotels, IKEA, PEPSI and Unilever the business, which is led by directors Paul Hart and Holly Barker, recently received investment from recruitment industry entrepreneur, Gary Dewhurst.
Gary, who is also CEO of Wrexham-headquartered national blue collar recruiter, gap Personnel Group, which is the seventh largest industrial recruitment specialist, regularly invests in dynamic, complementary businesses in the sector. As a result of the investment, First Resort has become the Middle East partner for gap to increase both organisations’ UK and international footprints.
First Resort is active across the entire Middle East supporting both local in-country recruitment as well as global search to secure candidates with international business experience. Its team contains British, Arabic and international recruiters and works with Saudi Nationals and Emiratis, Western, Arabic-speaking and international candidates globally.
Operating across industry sectors including Automotive, Technical (construction, water, power, manufacturing and engineering) Retail, IT, Digital & E-commerce FMCG and Hospitality. It places candidates in Management, Senior Management and Director-level roles.
The business also has a dedicated Project Recruitment Division for high volumes, which support company launches, expansions and new openings. This involves placing part or entire teams from MD level to junior staff and anything in between. This model has successfully being rolled out for headcount of 50 – 300 in concentrated periods.
Paul Hart, General Manager at First Resort Global Recruitment, who is also a UAE National Team Rugby Player said: “The growth trajectory we have taken since the investment from gap Personnel Group has been tremendous. It has provided the momentum to expand our presence in the Middle East by maximising the knowledge we have from partnering with a true Recruitment Industry Pioneer who owns some very large and well established UK business.
“The contracts we have secured in recent months are testament to our increasingly prominent position in the market and our ability to secure talented candidates from an expanding international pool.”
Gary Dewhurst said: “First Resort has proven to be an interesting and successful investment, which has made significant progress and become a valuable part of the gap Personnel network. Paul and Holly have built a very stable, talented and experienced team at all levels that have a good understanding of their markets and industries and the business has a positive future ahead of it.”