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The Supply Chain Social - Interview with David Jenkins - MD at Vertical Advantage

Written by: Supply Chain Online
Published on: 6 May 2015

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Name: David Jenkins
Company: Vertical Advantage
Position: Managing Director

What did you want to be when you were at school?
A professional footballer (ideally a cross between Roy Keane and Denis Bergkamp)

When did you first start out in the Recruitment industry?
2002 – I initially recruited within the retail Supply Chain & Procurement space within retail before moving to FMCG / Consumer in 2006 and have operated in this market ever since.

When and how did Vertical Advantage come about?
After I sold shares in my previous business, I had some time out of the market to reflect on where I wanted my career to go and after looking at a variety of options, I made the decision to set up my own recruitment brand that focused on delivering high calibre Supply Chain & Procurement and Sales & Marketing talent to the private sector - a unique offering within our market. I launched the business in June 2012 and we have gone from strength to strength over the past 3 years.

What kind of jobs does Vertical Advantage specialise in, and which regions do you cover?
We are a UK wide recruiter with offices in London covering the South and Leicester covering the Midlands / North. Our specialism is mid to senior, white collar professional Supply Chain & Procurement – our core client base is within the FMCG / Consumer space but we also work with businesses in Manufacturing, Finance, Construction and Facilities.

What sets Vertical Advantage apart from your competitors?
1) Our people – all of our staff bar one person have a minimum of 2 years’ experience in recruitment with the majority having 10+ years in the markets we operate.
2) Innovation – we have a strong development plan, centred around being at the cutting edge of key recruitment trends in the marketplace. This enables us to deliver both active and passive talent to our client base.
3) Candidate experience – our knowledge of the marketplace enables our candidates to receive great expertise on their journey to finding the right role. We have a strong client base so can offer candidates a variety of options but for those we cannot help, we are very honest about this and will do our best to guide them in their search.

What's been the biggest challenge you and the company have faced since launch?
At 18 months, the business needed to refocus our activity away from Logistics which tended to be more regionally focused (with DCs all over the UK), to a more head office led approach within Supply Chain and Procurement. The required us to re-shape our model and go into the market place to identify the best recruitment talent in the market to deliver this. Whilst it was a great challenge, I am delighted to say it was the best decision I have made since the businesses inception.

There can be no doubt that the rise of social media has had a significant impact on the recruitment industry. How has social media changed the way you work at Vertical Advantage?
It has changed the way we work immeasurably – some of our candidate & client base are really ahead of the curve in this area so one of our key focuses this year is to develop closer links with our social media partners and to develop a more cohesive strategy in this area. Only last week, I attended and APSCO (we have been members since June 2013) event, discussing the 15 key social & digital trends for 2015 – to be honest it was quite scary but also gave great insight into where we need to be moving forwards #onlygettingmyheadaroundthis!

How important are job boards within your marketing strategy?
Job boards will always be part of our strategy particularly as a relatively young, growing business that is still trying to spread our message. The reality is that whilst social media can be great for tapping into the passive job seeker audience and delivering our employer brand to relevant communities, the active talent in the market place is still where the bulk of our placements come from and as such we want to ensure we are engaging with that pool on a consistent basis, predominantly through the leading job boards in our sectors.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Making difficult decisions can be tough and it is easy to put them off. In an ideal world everyone would make the right decision & stick with them but sometimes this isn’t possible. If you truly believe by delaying a decision something will change over a period of time then set a strict timeframe in place and put a plan immediately in place if that change doesn’t happen.

What one piece of advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs starting out?
Stay focused – in a world where there are so many distractions, the key is to focus in those first few years and drive your business relentlessly.

What's the latest news at Vertical Advantage?
We have just moved to new premises in Leicester which are 4 times the size of our previous office so where are really gearing up for growth  across the UK over the next few years. Also, we launched our Technical & Innovation division in the last quarter – we have had great client demand in this space and have brought in a specialist consultant with great market knowledge to drive the new area. Whilst it is early days, we have seen some good success with our current client base and see this as a great compliment to our current offering.

Where would you like Vertical Advantage to be in 5 years’ time?
I want Vertical Advantage to be known as a great place to work with a strong, collaborative and enjoyable working culture. Whilst we have great ambitions to grow the business, I do not want to lose sight of the importance we place on developing our employer brand.

Interview by Richard Marshall - Managing Director of Supply Chain Online