GRB's 10 year success story

          
                                       GRB's 10th anniversary

GRB Co-founders, Dan Hawes and Chris Cater, are delighted to announce 10 years in business. After year-on-year growth, GRB is now firmly established as a leading graduate recruitment agency.

Dan Hawes says, "GRB has grown organically. We have done it by working extremely hard, focusing on our growth targets, hiring and retaining excellent staff and keeping an eye on costs."

"We are an independent company with our sights set firmly on growing even further during the next 10 years - so there is still work to do - just as well we are workaholics!" says Dan.

With no shareholders to help them, GRB founders have grown the company the old-fashioned way and ploughed all profits back into growing the firm by hiring new staff, improving the company's IT and more recently purchasing a new office block in Brighton.

Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) added, "Congratulations to GRB on their 10th anniversary! The journey that they have taken over the past decade has been impressive.

The role of specialist recruitment agencies in the graduate market has grown in importance over the years and I expect to see the GRB go from strength to strength as the demand for talented graduates intensifies and employers look for recruitment solutions that are both efficient and cost effective."

Dan says, "Our growth wouldn't have happened without finding good graduates first, so we thought it would make a great story if we could find out about the career path of the first graduate we ever placed. We contacted Gavin Cunningham who sent us his CV back in 1997. Gavin graduated in International Business Studies and French from UWE and was looking for a graduate role. We found a graduate position with Duracell as a Purchasing Trainee. Now he is Purchasing Manager with a leading high street bank based in London. Dan arranged a visit and chatted about Gavin's career and how GRB got him off to a flying start.

                  
                    Gavin Cunningham - the first graduate placed by GRB        

How did you feel once you had graduated and were looking for work?

It was like coming to the end of a rollercoaster ride - all the fun of university, followed by the final exams then bang, an entirely different world begins. It's easy to feel on your own.

How did you go about researching and applying for jobs?

I was lucky. My Dad gave me good advice to take a structured approach via agencies and newspapers (remember this was 10 years ago so no internet!).            

What attracted you to GRB?

The speed of response and the options presented fitted in realistically
with my level of work experience at that point.

Where do you think you would be if GRB hadn't placed you?

GRB got me the best opportunity at that time so they helped point me in the right direction and after that I managed my career to where I am today.

What difference has this made to your career in the long run?

The firm I worked for was quite challenging, however this gave me a great deal of self confidence and toughened me up for subsequent roles.
More importantly, in assisting me in finding a position quickly, GRB helped me to avoid the career killer - long gaps in your CV.

How did your experience compare to friends who didn't use GRB?

I honestly can't compare this as it was 10 years ago, however people were impressed that I'd got continuity of jobs - not bad just out of uni!

            
                             Dan and Gavin meet on London Bridge

Since Gavin, thousands of other graduates have used GRB's recruitment service and are enjoying exciting careers with FTSE250 and fast-growing medium sized firms across the UK. Dan says, "We exceeded our 10 year business plan for 1997-2007 - I think we underestimated just how good we can be! That's why for 2007-2017 we have raised the bar considerably."