Emerald Group is celebrating 25 years as a leading recruiter for the global financial services and actuarial sectors. We asked Jeff Deacon, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, to share his journey as he worked with Maria Deacon to build and grow the company we see today.
Jeff, you were going to be a lawyer: what happened?!
When I left the police force, I studied law with a view to joining the bar. As I got closer to my goal, I realised it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t picture myself in a future where I was surrounded by legal documents with a long legal career stretching ahead of me. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and I wanted to focus my energy on interacting with people and building a business with integrity that people would want to engage with. Maria was already working in recruitment so I gave it a go. I loved it, but I didn’t love how other recruiters were operating. I had no doubt we could create something better – so we did.
What did you want to do differently?
You may not believe me, but I didn’t last very long in my first recruitment job. I was told that I was too familiar with clients and candidates. That feedback felt all wrong to me. By getting to know the people I was working with, I could help them find the right employer or the right candidate, based on a quality-led response to their needs. I stuck with my instinct on how to interact with people and it worked. That’s what drove my early success as a recruiter and has underpinned how we operate at Emerald Group.
How were the early years for you?
So stressful! We had no money and a young family, and we worked very, very hard. We were both determined to grow our own successful business though, so we stuck with it. I can thank my family for my determination, which is definitely a family trait. My grandfather fought in the Free Polish Navy. As refugees from Poland, thankfully they all ended up in Plymouth together after the war where my grandfather did whatever he could to support his family. I’m grateful for his entrepreneurial drive and the perspective on life that their experience has given me.
Why do you think Emerald Group has been so successful?
We never forget that we offer a service. Our purpose is to connect the right people to the right roles. Some recruiters treat candidates as products and get confused on the ethics of how they operate. We’ve seen some shocking practices in other companies: sending CVs out without authorisation, hard sells on roles that won’t be the right fit for a candidate, or people that aren’t right for a role. It never works. Our consultants are not driven by volume and speed: we base success on quality, integrity and service, and this really sets us apart from other recruiters. There’s a reason that clients and candidates keep coming back to us – they like how we do things.
What’s been your biggest challenge in the last 25 years?
Like any business, we’ve had our share of challenges. For me, it’s probably the huge amount of time I’ve spent travelling internationally. The benefits to the company were tremendous as it established our global footprint and drove our international growth but it definitely had a personal impact for us as a family. Maria has always been amazing at keeping things going on all fronts, but it put pressure on her and I still feel the need to apologise (especially for the time I was in Hong Kong and she was rushed to hospital with an injured ankle: sorry, Maria!).
What are you most proud of?
The industry we work in has changed tremendously in the last 25 years. We’ve created a business that has evolved and grown, meeting these changes head on and providing a service that makes a difference to people. It’s extremely satisfying to know that people have careers that we have helped to nurture, that teams are working well because we’ve placed the right mix of individuals together. The same goes for our team: we recruit people who want to stay working for us – some of our employees who have worked with us for over 20 years, which is a great indicator of how they feel about us as an employer. If you enjoy your job, then success follows and I’m proud that we have a company culture that supports people as they earn a good salary and enjoy the journey along the way!
To find out more about how Emerald Group can help you source the best candidates in the actuarial and financial services sectors, please call us on +44 (0)207 283 2520.
The Emerald Group
Celebrating 25 Years of Industry Leading Recruitment Expertise
for the Actuarial and Financial Services Sector