Lighthouse Keeping: 2 Years In

In my opinion, one of the most overused expressions is ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and that probably is because of the truth in the phrase. On a personal level, the last two years have been an absolute blast. Yes, of course, there have been ups, downs, back to fronts, loop the loops and 1080 front flips, but overall the last two years have been great and will, therefore, hold a special place in my heart for the years to come.

When I first started out it felt like we were moving into a future where everything became cloudy and unknown, and to this day it still feels a bit like that with each passing year, which is what you would expect from starting your own business. It has been every kind of emotion; excitement, joy, sadness, sorrow, frustration and brings every kind of challenge and benefit employment can offer – completely flexible, completely inflexible, demanding, relaxing and everything else! Overall however, I wouldn’t change a single second of it and continue to learn and develop each and every day along with the team, and the business as a whole. We have some fantastic individuals working with us now and I must say that Lighthouse Personnel Ltd is something I am extremely proud of.

Why we started: we started out to change the culture of our industry and offer not just a quick recruitment service, but honest, upfront, worthwhile, long-lasting advice and guidance to businesses and individuals requiring our services.

Are we doing what we said we would: we have had some excellent reviews in our time which do certify this, and we consistently look at ways to get better at it. We have lots of exciting plans for the future, which I will share shortly, but of course have had lot’s of learning curves to use to improve our services and hope that we are getting there!

What’s happened since: we have a small, yet lovely office in the centre of Colchester. My brother Paddy has been with us for 18 months. Laura is coming up to completing her apprentice with us, having just had her one-year anniversary with us. Sam has just completed his first 6 months. We have drastically increased our online presence to get our brand out there and ensure our services are available to as many individuals and businesses as possible. I think that’s it! Oh, actually, Rosey and I just had our wonderful little baby boy (number 3!) Llewie!

Key numbers: we have had vacancies with just over 35 clients, placed 83 individuals (as well as offered support to many, many more) into positions with 28 of those companies, and currently have 17 open vacancies. We have supported one not-for-profit organisation and are supporting one charity currently (with recruitment and providing CV advice and guidance to potential service users). We have provided talks to 3 schools/colleges, with more coming through. Our YouTube channel has 57 videos (and growing) of advice, examples and fun, demonstrating all of the work that we do.

Here’s to the first 2 years tending to our light, and to many more keeping it shining!