The Supply Chain Social - Interview with Suzanne Hathaway - Managing Director at Hathaway Lane

Name: Suzanne Hathaway
Company: Hathaway Lane
Position: Managing Director

What did you want to be when you were at school?
When I was very young, I wanted to be a vet. However in my teens I thought I’d make an excellent actress!

When did you first start out in the Recruitment industry?
I was working at the BBC, in the Production team on the hospital drama ‘Casualty’ (I finally got my wish to be an ‘actress’ because I was an Extra in a couple of episodes) when a good friend of mine, who worked in recruitment, suggested that I had the personality traits and skills to make an excellent Recruiter. In 1997, I took my first job in recruitment with a consultancy in London, working on general commercial roles, typically administrative and secretarial across a wide range of industry sectors. In 2003, I moved into Procurement & Supply Chain and have specialised in the discipline for the past 12 years.

How did Hathaway Lane come about?
After working as a Director for an Executive Search & Selection Consultancy in Yorkshire, I took some time out to decide on what I wanted to do next. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur (it runs in my family) so I established Hathaway Lane in 2011 with a vision to build a quality recruitment brand specialising only in Procurement & Supply Chain appointments, in the Private and Public Sectors, across the UK. 

What kind of jobs does Hathaway Lane specialise in, and which regions do you cover?
We specialise in Procurement & Supply Chain opportunities, recruiting at salary levels from £30,000 up to £150,000. Our core market is the UK but mainland Europe and Australia are growing markets for us.

What sets Hathaway Lane apart from your competitors?
1. Consistency in approach - the reassurance for clients and candidates that they will be represented in a professional manner because all communication is managed personally by me.
2. A highly personalised recruitment service - listening and showing a genuine interest in every client and candidate.
3. The recruitment journey – the service that Hathaway Lane provides is, in my view, unique and this tailored service is what leads to us having not only repeat business time after time, but a successful expanding network of clients and candidates.
4. Cost effective recruitment services - play a role because Hathaway Lane is an independent consultancy with lower overheads than many of our competitors. We pass this saving onto our clients.

What's been the biggest challenge you and the company have faced since launch?
There has been much in the news about small businesses being squeezed by some large companies and having unreasonable payment terms imposed upon them. To a degree, Hathaway Lane has experienced this and it’s been a challenge. I particularly empathise with small business owners because small businesses are arguably the economic backbone of the UK.

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 Hathaway Lane?
Hathaway Lane has certainly embraced social media and the value it can bring. LinkedIn and Twitter are used vigorously by Hathaway Lane and both are excellent routes to market enabling us to share company or mainstream breaking news, job opportunities and networking whilst raising our company’s profile. Social media has revolutionised access to passive talent (skilled people who would benefit from a new job opportunity but are not actively looking) and assisted recruiters like me. It’s a distant memory from my early days of working in recruitment in the 1990s when I didn’t have a computer, we relied heavily on placing job adverts in newspapers for our candidate source and I stored candidate records on a Rolodex card file!  I read a recent statistic saying that 73% of UK employers have successfully hired a candidate through social media. Clearly, this type of statistic could be seen as a threat to some agency recruiters but I still believe that there is a place in the market for specialist recruitment consultants that know their stuff and can add value to a recruitment process.

How important are job boards within your marketing strategy?
Job boards are still a part of the Hathaway Lane marketing strategy. They offer a channel to pick up active job searchers who are usually genuine about finding a new opportunity. We have started to work on more jobs in Europe and Australia so job boards allow us to reach a wide audience, and this has proved successful in recent times.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Many years ago I was on a training course and was given a piece of advice that I try to encompass in daily life. It is: ‘Today I must do something significant. The cost of it is a day of my life. Because the price is so high, whatever I do must be worthwhile’.

What one piece of advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs starting out?
You’ve got to be passionate and inspired about what you do and be prepared to work really hard, especially when you’re starting out and building the business. However, you’ll reap the rewards in the long run. 

What's the latest news at Hathaway Lane?
We’re getting more job mandates from clients in overseas markets such as Australia and Asia to work with us, which is great news. Since the UK General Election, the UK job market is still growing and we’re getting inundated with great Procurement and Supply Chain job opportunities.

Where would you like Hathaway Lane to be in 5 years’ time?
I want Hathaway Lane to be the first, and preferably only, recruitment consultancy name that springs to mind when clients are looking to hire and candidates want a new job in Procurement and Supply Chain.

Interview by Richard Marshall - Managing Director of Supply Chain Online

To view the latest live Procurement & Supply Chain opportunities from Hathaway Lane CLICK HERE