Are quarterly newsletters a thing of the past? I used to quite enjoy the monthly and quarterly updates in my old days working in the insurance market, but, do you lot really want to know what we are up to and our views on life and the market? The answer is I don’t really know, but I spoke with a senior client of ours yesterday and he said that he has really enjoyed our updates this year and likes reading our views on things. With that in mind, here it goes…
So, as you have no doubt gathered, we are a little different here at Synchronicity Insurance. While the rest of you most likely work to a fiscal or calendar year, our year runs 1st February – 31st January, meaning tomorrow is the end of Q3 for us. As this is our first quarterly update, I will keep things mostly about Q3 but also summarize Q1 and Q2.
Q1 (February – April) was actually pretty good from a business perspective. Little did we know what was waiting around the corner for us. We had our best ever February – I have been working in recruitment for 18 years so this is no mean feat and represented a positive start to 2020. We all know what happened in March and April but in truth, our activity and results were still pretty good.
Q2 (May – July) if I could put a picture of a tumbleweed blowing through a desolate town in the mid west, this would probably be the best overview of this period. A horrible time for so many people. I personally spent all of this time in the office on my own as Naomi was on furlough and Stuart was working from home. The quality of the tea rounds in the office improved, but that was about the only positive to pull from this period. As per the famous Forrest Gump quote ‘and that’s all I have to say about that’.
Q3 (August – October) well what has this quarter brought us then? I am pleased to report that it has actually been a very good and productive three months. Stuart returned from paternity leave, Naomi returned from furlough and we became a team of three again. I was no longer a lone wolf…. (10 points for naming the film reference…).
August is a traditionally topsy turvy month in the world of recruitment. If the candidate is not away on holiday, the hiring manager certainly will be. 9 times out of 10, the day the candidate returns, the hiring manager goes to a luxury retreat in the Dodecanese with limited wifi for two weeks. Fair to say that this did not happen as much this year and, in fact, it made August a very productive month for us. If not for one deal falling down in bizarre circumstances, it would have been the best ever August on record.
September saw us reignite an old relationship with a company that we have worked with on an off for a number of years. A surge of activity from the client resulted in 4 placements to compliment the long term plans that they have implemented this year. Whilst we have certain clients that use us for all requirements on a regular basis, it is great to reopen old acquaintances and really get under the skin of a business. The more we know about our client’s plans and aspirations, the better placed we are to find the very best people for the company. It is no coincidence that the more information we are given, the more effective we are.
October has also been a productive month. We have secured our first deal within marketing for a few months and it is a key role for an International client that we love working with. We are also just about to put a flag in a country that we have not placed in previously and this will hopefully be announced next week. Exciting times for both us and our clients – although it may mean me needing to pick up a new language.
In summary, Q3 this year has been a success for us. It was actually better than 2019’s effort – albeit only marginally. We have seen new clients join us, longstanding clients come back to us and a reasonably positive vibe seems to be circulating the market again. We have also ventured into our first corporate sponsorship deal with the mighty Horsham FC!
It will be interesting to see what the next three months have in store for us as, let’s face it, no one really knows. We are shutting shop early tomorrow and going to our local restaurant to reflect on the last three months and plan our next three months. If you need to get hold of us, we will be a Tristans in Horsham raising a glass or two.
Good luck to one and all for the rest of 2020. Keep sticking together and we will all get through this rollercoaster of a year.
