Harbourne Associates – Star Business of the Month – May 2014

My name is Chris Stephens, Director of Harbourne Associates which I started in March 2013 set up from a bedroom in my parents’ house. I’m a 28 year old, innovative, passionate individual with a drive to change the perception and Harbourne Associates Logomethodologies used in the current recruitment marketplace. I felt that not enough was being done to really dig deep and source top talent for corporates in the UK. Many opportunities were being missed by market leading clients due to pushy salespeople looking to earn commission and not provide a value adding service that employers are really looking for.

I had been in recruitment for 8 years and before that in various sales positions but always had a vision of a customer service driven approach built on delivering business growth for my clients. I had to persuade my parents to support me and invest some start-up money but thanks to this I am now running a business of seven people and working out of an office in Tunbridge Wells. The business is currently on track to turnover sales of £1m in 2016.

Recruitment dates back to the early 1900s. There was no Internet, Facebook or Jobsites. It was about learning your clients’ culture, environment and requirements thoroughly and spending time learning about competitors, neighbours and forward thinking businesses then networking intensely to track down top performers. Over time this entire concept has been lost and agencies feel it is OK to charge a huge sum of money for a very straightforward search on an internet job board – Monster or similar.

Chris Stephens - Harbourne Associates

Today’s world introduces so many more candidate attraction methods and Harbourne Associates utilises them in order to find, contact and manage key professionals. By working hard and being thorough, I am developing a new age service using an up to date, tailored approach in order to provide a “stand out” service.

Harbourne Associates is developing into a well-known specialist Recruitment Consultancy focusing its attention on the Sales, Marketing and Management sectors. We work with a large number of key industries including retail development, premium brands, food service, high-end fashion, hair and beauty, drinks and a developing area in industrial, manufacturing, construction and engineering markets. We have a highly experienced Executive Search Team that work across a wide range of industries within a developing client base. (Senior Appointments into the corporate marketplace).The team based in Tunbridge Wells is quickly developing and the company is growing month by month. Proven testimonials from Blue-chip clients back up the service we provide and how we can truly stand out from many leading agencies.

One of our clients described us as a:

“Unique, contemporary recruitment boutique, with a forward thinking approach to business, they use proven historical methods to source and deliver on key roles and provide a service that has substance.”

My approach with the support of a hardworking team includes a mix of headhunting, networking, attending exhibitions and events whilst spending the time to learn markets, mapping companies and use advanced recruitment databases; many key options that really do give us a competitive edge in today’s marketplace. I sincerely believe that Harbourne Associates’ success will only come from helping our clients to grow their business by sourcing the best candidates and matching them to their ideal job.

To date we have shown extremely high levels of success and conversion ratios that outmatch much of the recruitment market, not to mention staff retention figures once placed, apparent throughout many of our blue chip client base.

Get In Touch:

Website          Facebook          Twitter

Electric Lantern – Motion Picture Festival

electric-lanterns-festival-rectangle-720Client: Samuel Marlow – sam@electriclanternfestival.co.uk

Business: Electric Lantern Motion Picture Festival

Description: Now in its third year, The Electric Lantern Festival is a week-long international film festival in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, at the start of September 2013.

Telephone: 07599 716453

Website: www.electriclanternfestival.co.uk/schedule.html

Kent Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs supported this event in it’s infancy and are now pleased to announce it’s growth and success. Read on to find out more and join in… 

The Electric Lantern Festival, Tunbridge Wells’ International Film Festival has doubled the number of days it runs to cope with the volume and quality of submissions.

The director of Tunbridge Wells’ Electric Lantern International Film  Festival, Samuel Marlow, announced that he was doubling the duration of the event to cope with the volume and quality of films the Festival has received this year.

Running for a week at the start of September in Tunbridge Wells’ Trinity Theatre, the Electric Lantern International Film Festival screens feature length and short drama, comedy, documentary, animation, music video and experimental film from local, national and international directors. This year the sponsor-funded festival is  screening 63 films from 18 countries including the USA, Iran, Brazil, Cambodia, India and the Slovak Republic, with other films coming from people almost literally a stone’s throw from the venue.

Originally three days long, Samuel Marlow decided to expand the Festival to a week once the quality of the films being submitted became apparent: “You know something special is happening when you start watching another excellent film and your heart sinks because  you’re thinking ‘Oh, no. I’ve got to find space for this one, too!'”Despite the extra days and the addition of a second screen, the Festival is still only able to screen about a quarter of what was submitted.

“It was exceptionally difficult to make the selection,” Sam  continued. “I had to whittle the films down favouring premieres, films with a strong voice or unusual angle.” The Festival’s line-up boasts 41 world and UK premieres, and closes with “Traveller” starring David Essex and newcomer Billy Cook in an adaptation of John F McDonald’s novel.

The Festival’s full schedule can be found at: www.electriclanternfestival.co.uk/schedule.htmlsamuel-marlow-electric-lantern-festival-rectangle-721

Tunbridge Wells resident Samuel Marlow founded the Electric Lantern Festival in 2011 to bring some of the best in independent films to his home town.

Business Tip

“The Festival’s strap-line is See The World In A New Light, and I feel we really stayed true to that. Whether it’s a documentary about caring for elderly zoo animals or floating schools in Bangladesh, a film about a plastic toy diver having an existential crisis or a drama about which of two communities you belong to, every film is surprising, enlightening of inspirational.”