North East success story Frank Recruitment Group has landed a prestigious award for its operations in the US, taking the top spot in the Best Companies for Women 2019 list. The honour was given out by San Francisco-based business journal DataBird, which surveyed employees to find out how companies could best support their workforce.
The accolade is the latest big stride that the staffing giant, which started life on Westgate Road in Newcastle in 2006, has made in the United States. The niche tech staffing firm began its North American expansion with the launch of its first New York office in 2010, and recently announced it would be cutting the ribbon on its tenth US location in the coming weeks.
On October 14th, the firm will open its doors in Charlotte, North Carolina, creating up to 90 jobs in the area for both junior and senior recruitment consultants. “We’ve invested over $1m on infrastructure to be here,” said James-Lloyd Townshend, Chairman and CEO. “We plan to recruit workers from the local talent pool, offering highly motivated individuals the chance of a fantastic career in sales with incredible opportunities in front of them.”
Charlotte has developed a reputation as a fast-growing technology hub in the United States, with the number of IT professionals in the city growing by 40% within the last five years. That number is expected to continue to rise as the city continues to attract big-name employers such as PayPal and Lowes, both of whom have recently set up bases in Charlotte.
The rise of the US cloud market is a big driving force behind this. Industry experts Gartner expect the market to grow three times quicker than other IT services over the next two years, with a 17.5% growth predicted by the end of 2019.
“We’ve already worked with over 3,000 clients in North Carolina without having a permanent base here,” said Vice President Paden Simmons, who will be leading the Charlotte office. “We’re excited to be able to engage with existing and future customers even further.”
To satisfy the demand for cloud professionals, the company will initially run its Jefferson Frank and Nigel Frank brands from its Charlotte premises. Jefferson Frank is a leading specialist in Amazon Web Services (AWS) recruitment, while Nigel Frank works in the Azure job market.
“We’re delighted to be here,” said President, Zoe Morris. “Charlotte is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States and has quickly become a key technology hub, attracting some of the area’s best talent in what is an incredibly vibrant place to live.”
As tech markets grow around the world, the company is experiencing growth both at home and away. It remains a big employer in Newcastle, having recently increased its workforce to over 400 people within its North East HQ. And with 21 offices across four continents, Frank Recruitment Group’s Charlotte office will no doubt by joined by new locations as part of the firm’s ambitious growth plan.
With a positive forecast for the tech sector in the US, it looks like an exciting future lies ahead for one of the North East’s biggest business success stories.
