A high street recruitment company which opened its doors in 1974 - the year of the three-day week and resignation of US President Richard Nixon - is celebrating 40 years in business.
Originally called Field Staff Agency, and now known simply as Field Recruitment, it was set up in Swindon by HR specialist Maggie Heaven.
Forty years on, the business now has two Swindon offices and a different owner; Andrew Careswell joined in 1999 as a member of the team, was promoted to branch manager in 2003 and bought the company from Maggie when she retired in 2008.
“We’ve changed dramatically in those 40 years, along with the rest of the recruitment sector,” said Andrew. “The two offices originally had a fairly distinct split between industrial and commercial recruitment, but with the decline in manufacturing this has changed.
“The technical revolution has made a huge difference to our business. I have a technology background so have been keen to ensure we’re ahead of the curve. We’re now almost totally cloud-based, so our staff can work anywhere, at any time, and have access to all our systems.”
Field now has a team of around 20, placing permanent, temporary and contract staff to a range of clients throughout the South West and beyond. Some, such as Nationwide, have been Field clients from the very early days.
Field has also extended its services beyond recruitment, offering a skills testing services to business and organisations such as the NHS for both new recruits and existing staff; it also hosts a free jobs board, where any employer can post a vacancy.
“What makes us different is the way we establish great relationships with our clients - we are totally service driven,” said Andrew. “It’s a challenge as Swindon is a very competitive market in terms of the ratio between vacancies to workers to recruitment agencies, so we are proud that we have been able to maintain such a strong business for 40 years, and we have a very rosy future ahead.”