From Clock-Watching to Calling the Shots
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When Work Stops Working
Ashlea Harland originally joined her previous company to help establish its 360 recruitment team. Eventually she progressed to leading it. But as the business changed, so did the culture.
“Rather than it being about what you could develop and what you could bring into the business, it became about what time you were clocking in and what time you were clocking out. I spent my days in endless meetings about meetings. By the end of it, I absolutely hated going to work.”
Trying to balance that environment with two children became an ongoing battle. Worse still, the further Ashlea progressed, the further she moved away from the bit of the job she actually enjoyed.
Starting her own recruitment business offered a way out, but there were some fairly substantial concerns attached. Then there was everything involved in turning recruitment experience into an actual recruitment company.
“Not having a steady income and not having loads of savings were big considerations because having two kids and a house is expensive. I know how to recruit, but all the other stuff, setting up a website, accounts and everything else . . . I didn’t have the first clue what to do.”
Taking the Risk Out of Taking the Leap
The introduction to Hilton Lord came through someone Ashlea already trusted.
She had known Matt since primary school and, after seeing that he had started his own recruitment business, called him to find out how he’d done it. That conversation led her to Dave and Hilton Lord.
Initially, Ashlea worried there might be pressure to make the new business perform immediately. Starting from scratch is unpredictable, and the last thing she wanted was a new kind of target hanging over her head.
“Before speaking to everyone, I think I was worried there would be pressure to get things off the ground quickly. You never know how it’s going to go or how quickly you’re going to be able to get things moving.”
Those concerns disappeared once she understood the partnership and the support available. H Squared Talent launched in 2022, specialising in recruitment for scientific and high-tech equipment manufacturers, predominantly across engineering, manufacturing and sales.
From Resignation to Ready to Recruit
Getting the business operational didn’t take long. Hilton Lord took care of the infrastructure Ashlea knew she needed but didn’t particularly fancy spending the next few months learning how to build.
“I resigned on the Friday and I was up and running by Monday! The website was there and I had access to the systems from day one. The whole thing was really quick and easy.”
H Squared started trading on Halloween and raised its first invoice in December. And, with Hilton Lord’s legal support to help her navigate the process, Ashlea was able to continue working with many of her long-standing clients.
The momentum she’d worried might take months to build arrived quickly. She was able to spend her time recruiting rather than working out how to run payroll, implement systems or become an amateur accountant overnight.
“It would have been a nightmare trying to implement everything myself and deal with things I don’t know anything about.”
Support That Goes Beyond the Back Office
For Ashlea, Hilton Lord’s value isn’t just in what’s happening behind the scenes. It’s knowing there are experienced people available when something unfamiliar lands on her desk.
“Even this week I picked up the phone to ask Dave something! With Hilton Lord you feel safe. You know you’re not going to accidentally put your foot in it. You don’t go to bed at night worrying. If I’m worried, I just pick up the phone and say, ‘What do you think I should do?’ You’re supported.”
The wider Hilton Lord group has become part of that support network too. H Squared has completed split-fee work with other partner businesses, allowing Ashlea to help clients with roles outside her usual specialism rather than simply turning the work away.
“I really like the other recruitment businesses within the group, the collaboration and the way everybody feeds into each other.”
More Freedom, More Focus
Owning her own business has given Ashlea the peace of mind and flexibility she knew she needed. There’s no clock-watching. No asking permission to leave early for the kids. And no endless meetings pulling her away from recruitment.
“It sounds silly, but I never got to do the school run. That was always Mike’s job. Now I get to do it too.”
The surprising part? That flexibility hasn’t come at the expense of performance.
“I bill more now than I ever have in any of my previous roles, but I feel like I physically do less.”
Ashlea puts that down to working more efficiently and building the business around the way she wants to work. Financially, things are better too, but for her, the important bit is having control.
“There might be times when I need a bit more money and other times when I don’t. Again, you have that flexibility and you can make that decision yourself.”
Build Your Recruitment Business with Hilton Lord
Asked what Hilton Lord has enabled her to do that might have been difficult alone, Ashlea sums things up nicely.
“They allowed me to do it stress-free and quickly. All the things Hilton Lord has taken care of would probably have taken me months to sort out myself and cost me a lot of money. Just do it. Knowing what I know now, I wish I’d done it way earlier than I did.”
Hilton Lord backs experienced recruiters to build businesses of their own, providing the infrastructure, advice and support they need without taking away the freedom that made them want to start in the first place.
You build the business. We’ll make sure you don’t have to build it alone.