With nods to the power of faith, family and plenty of sleeve-rolling, Lodestone Recruitment’s founder Nicholas Brennan talks to unLTD about his business journey so far.
It’s been some road for Nicholas Brennan, one with plenty of twists and turns; but in his mind at least, it’s all useful experience keeping him in good stead for the daily challenges of running a business solo.
We meet at Lodestone HQ, situated in Crucible Works, Darnall, at a point when Nick is looking to make his first hire, with a couple more appointments planned for later in the year if all goes well. It’s a positive signifier in what has been a trying year or so, involving a not particularly amicable professional split with his friend and co-director of the business in 2022, something that naturally put a lot of strain on Nick.
“Having that conversation was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done,” he says. “When you go into business with a friend, you think it’ll be fine, even if things don’t quite work out. There might be some concerns, but you kind of get on with it. It got to a point where I felt that I wasn’t getting out what I was putting into the business, so I do ultimately think it was the right decision. Maybe I should have voiced my feelings earlier, but it’s just a shame that we don’t have a friendship now.”
While going through this process and facing up to the prospect of single-handedly taking the business forward, Nick found reassurance in his deep Christian faith. “I’ve got on with it and trusted in God’s plan. I always felt like I had God’s presence in my life; everything that’s happened to me so far feels like He has been there with me.”
Growing up in a single-parent family in Liverpool where some types of support were at times scarce, getting the grades required to study philosophy at the University of Sheffield could be seen as an impressive accomplishment in itself. Talking about how much he enjoyed the move to South Yorkshire as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, there’s an admission of losing his way slightly while at university, the well-worn tale of too much partying, which in part led to a number of less-than-fulfilling jobs upon graduation – including a move to Rochdale to sell CCTV equipment, his first real foray into sales.
“It was pretty old-school,” he says of the role. “Hammering the phones, making a quota of 60 calls a day. It probably wasn’t for me, but I did learn that sales is often about really believing in the product that you sell, and it was also a learning curve when it comes to the culture of companies, management styles and what works for and motivates me personally.”
From then on, Nick took up a position at Santander, working with the bank’s university networks and building up relationships with clients ranging from professors to international students, before being offered a secondment to manage a branch in Leeds. He explains how this was another important business lesson: “I quickly realised that I couldn’t just focus on my strengths in sales, and I needed to start developing a more holistic approach to how I worked. I was really disappointed when that post wasn’t made permanent, but it was a valuable experience and my senior manager at the time advised me to do something in sales. That stuck with me when later applying for jobs.”
Over the next couple of years, some big changes began to take place in Nick’s personal life. A long-term relationship ended and a university friend who’d converted to Christianity invited him on a sports week run by Christian Vision for Men, an organisation focused on helping men find Jesus, who organised these active holidays at a leisure complex in Lanzarote. After enjoying himself the first time around, Nick returned the following year and something clicked.
“I’ll never forget it. I was having a conversation with this guy and I just felt different, like I’ve never felt before. I knew this was something that could change my life. I’d been living a certain way for a while – not necessarily badly, but just doing stupid things and feeling a bit directionless. So, I came back and did a Christianity Explored course, which is essentially where you study the Bible’s claims, Jesus’ teachings and its relevance to yourself. I started to relearn a lot of stuff and began regularly attending church.”
Not only did the church offer spiritual guidance, but
it was also the place Nick met his future wife. Not long after their marriage, Nick put in a sabbatical at the bank he was working for and the couple spent an eye-opening period travelling south-east Asia together.
“It felt to me like God was directing my life, changing my life for the better and putting me on the path he wants me to be on.”
A step into recruitment came next, taking up a sales position with Barnsley-based firm Kinetic, who specialise in filling roles in manufacturing, engineering and technical markets. Again, it provided ample vital experience, particularly when it came to the recruitment sector, and it was here that Nick first began thinking about becoming the architect of his own destiny.
“I’m a big believer in what you put in is what you get out in the end. Now, that doesn’t always apply to recruitment because it can be very volatile; there are definitely a lot of ‘you win some, you lose some’ moments in that industry. So, I found out quickly that I had to be quite thick-skinned, but I also kicked on with building a lot of relationships with new clients. Kinetic were a nice company to work for, and I still speak to a lot of people there as friends, but I had two kids at the time and the idea of starting my own company started to grow stronger.”
When COVID hit, Nick volunteered for furlough, using the spare time to be with his family, mentally recharging and going out for runs as a means to clear his head. Feeling fully refreshed, it wasn’t long before he was in discussions with a friend about starting up their own recruitment company. In October 2020, Lodestone Recruitment LTD was officially incorporated.
Despite a good first year, and even though his business partner had contributed to where they were, Nick came to the conclusion that something had to change and opened discussions to buy out his business partner.
“It was a hugely difficult process and a real wake-up call for me,” he reflects. “Once that was all sorted, I had to formulate a strategy of picking the business up, but I was confident that I could do it. I had a system in place and that summer I really got into the trenches and worked incredibly hard. It went well; I filled loads of jobs and kept clients happy – so much so that I was able to finish early in December, which was great as I was exhausted, and this gave me time again to recharge with my family.”
Even though plenty of positive progress has been made, Nick says Lodestone hasn’t been impervious to the challenges posed by Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis. He concedes that the start of the year was a slow one, and recruitment as an industry needs to see concessions made by both employers and recruiters to adapt to the challenges facing the marketplace.
He explains: “The cost-of-living crisis has made better salaries high on people’s priority list, while rising fuel costs have meant more people want jobs closer to home – or working from home – if possible. Good pensions are even more important for security these days. I think COVID lockdowns have given a lot of people time to re-evaluate exactly what people want from a job. So, companies today are thinking more about what candidates want; and as a recruiter, I need to be working hard to offer advice and getting the company value for their money – it’s not about taking a fee and running off into the sunset. My job satisfaction comes a few months down the line when you find out that the candidate is a good fit and you’ve potentially helped them into a life-changing move. That’s why we do it. When I am looking to build my own team, that’s something I want to instil in new recruits to the business.”
For more information on how Lodestone Recruitment can help you, head to lodestonerecruitment.co.uk or contact@lodestonerecruitment.co.uk
