The Supply Chain Social - Interview with Justin Lewsley - Marketing Manager at Beaumont Select
The Supply Chain Social - Interview with Justin Lewsley - Marketing Manager at Beaumont Select
Name: Justin Lewsley
Company: Beaumont Select
Position: Marketing Manager
What sets Beaumont Select apart from your competitors?
We have a great reputation in the industry with the vast majority of our Clients and Candidates returning to us. Our consistent aim has always been to provide our candidates and clients with exceptional service delivery at every touch point, from initial contact to with us; throughout all stages of the recruitment process, to getting comprehensive feedback at the end of a recruitment project. We are ISO90001 Quality Certified (I believe the only company in our sector that is) to help us focus on ways to continue to improve our service offering.
Critical to our success is that we have never been a sales focused organisation, but instead have concentrated on developing a highly knowledgeable, mature and well trained team of Procurement and Vendor Management Recruitment Specialists and support staff. Our Consultants really do enjoy finding our candidates great jobs with many of the world’s most successful companies. They are supported by an efficient back office team, ensuring that everything runs smoothly, from defining interview structure, checking advertising to undertaking client and candidate research. With 14 years of experience and specialisation and supported by ISO9001 Quality accreditation we always ensure that all our activities are undertaken to the very highest standard.
One of the great differentiators for Beaumont is that we have a very low staff turnover rate; the team has grown organically over the last 14 years so we have a vast knowledge of the procurement sector. In combination with our contingency database of 26,000+ Procurement & Vendor Management candidates and extensive experience in headhunting best fit passive candidates, quickly and confidentially, we can usually match candidate with role in very short timescales. We have also invested in some great technology to help us make our job easier and best support the needs of our clients and candidates.
Our industry is changing fast and we have seen major changes over the last few years, looking forward we will continue to adapt, offering a supportive, professional, friendly and flexible service to our clients.
What's been the biggest challenge you and the company have faced since launch?
The recession was challenging, but we are very proud that we managed to keep all our team on at Beaumont and maintained a strong market position throughout this difficult period.
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 Beaumont Select?
Social media has definitely changed the working day at Beaumont, but not the fundamental ethos of building and maintaining good professional and transparent relationships with our clients and candidates. We use various social media platforms extensively at Beaumont Select, but the challenge is to use them intelligently and effectively as possible in conjunction with our own client and candidate network managed through our own database. We approach social media interaction in the same way we would with all our relationships; that is professionally, with care and always with the candidate or client needs in mind.
How important are job boards within your marketing strategy?
Job boards still play an important part of our marketing strategy, but the days of posting an advertisement and waiting for a ‘perfect match’ candidate to come in are gone. Clients are justifiably more demanding and talent is harder to find, so we have seen a shift in focus from job boards to more in-depth headhunting methodologies. Job boards are still part of our mix, but finding the best passive candidates needs a more involved approach.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Listen!
What one piece of advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs starting out?
Understand your market, focus on a niche and be an expert in it. Care about your customers and your team.
What's the latest news at Beaumont Select?
Beaumont Select have had a very successful past 12 months and are looking forward to another great year. The market is looking very buoyant and we are ready for the new challenges of an ever changing recruitment landscape. We have introduced new database technology, we are looking at new social media strategies, our team has grown and we have placed more people in great jobs than we ever have done before. We are also very excited to be supporting a new community in the Supplier Relationship Managers, Contract Managers and Outsourcing space through our new Beaumont Select Vendor Management brand.
Where would you like Beaumont Select to be in 5 years’ time?
Continue to provide a market leading Recruitment Service to the Procurement, Supply Chain and Vendor Management community.
Interview by Richard Marshall - Managing Director of Supply Chain Online
