In this episode of Talent Matters, Rupert McSheehy, Director at RMG Digital, shares how his journey from billing recruiter to agency founder shaped a new way of working — one that prioritises trust, autonomy, and long-term value over old-school sales culture and vanity metrics.

Rupert reflects on the lessons he took from his time at S3, what he kept and what he left behind, and how he's built a lean, profitable agency focused on enabling his team and delivering meaningful impact for clients and candidates alike. He also shares how Fireside with Founders, his podcast, has become a powerful tool for business development and brand building.

We talk about:

• Letting go of control and trusting your team
• Why headcount doesn’t equal success
• How smaller agencies can do more with less
• Moving from transactional to strategic recruitment
• Using content to engage candidates and clients alike

If you’re a recruitment agency owner, aspiring founder, or someone rethinking how an agency should run, this one’s for you.

// ABOUT RUPERT McSHEEHY

Rupert McSheehy is Director of RMG Digital, a recruitment agency specialising in Design, Product, and Software Engineering roles across the UK, Europe, and the US. With over 17 years in recruitment, Rupert co-founded RMG to build a lean, values-led agency focused on people, performance, and purpose. He also hosts Fireside with Founders, a podcast that explores the stories behind high-growth tech companies.

// ABOUT WAVE⁠⁠

Wave is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

In this episode of Talent Matters, Tamar Avakian, Co-Founder – Property & Surveying at Invictus Group, shares how 20 years in real estate recruitment has shaped her approach to building lasting relationships, specialist knowledge, and long-term impact in the built environment.

From engineering placements at Wimbledon to helping clients navigate a post-pandemic world, Tamar explains how her team supports hiring in a sector where flexibility, infrastructure, and people all collide. She also reflects on the changing nature of candidate expectations, the role of AI, and what recruiters can do to stay relevant in today’s market.

We talk about:

• How workplace flexibility is shaping real estate hiring

• Why niche knowledge gives specialist recruiters an edge
• What recruiters can learn from high-pressure event staffing
• The risks and rewards of launching a business during a recession
• Why long-term relationships still beat short-term wins

If you recruit in real estate, facilities, or the built environment – or want to hear what great recruitment looks like when it's powered by deep expertise – this one’s for you.

// ABOUT TAMAR AVAKIAN

Tamar Avakian is Co-Founder of the Property & Surveying division at Invictus Group, a specialist recruitment agency serving the built environment. With two decades of experience in real estate recruitment, Tamar leads a team that works across surveying, facilities, and engineering, supporting clients ranging from consultancies to developers and major institutions.

// ABOUT WAVE

⁠⁠⁠⁠Wave⁠⁠⁠⁠ is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

In this episode of Talent Matters, Heidi Bannister, Founder and Managing Director at Arthur Edward, shares how a deep understanding of the beauty industry has helped her build a trusted recruitment agency that partners with global brands to deliver top talent.

Starting out in product development, sales and marketing, Heidi brings hands-on experience to recruitment – and it shows. She talks about the importance of sector knowledge, long-term relationships, and genuine passion for product in making the right hire. From trade shows to team strategy, she lifts the lid on what makes the cosmetic and personal care sector so unique.

We talk about:

• Why industry experience gives recruiters an edge in beauty

• How flexibility is helping smaller brands win top talent

• Why passion and communication matter just as much as technical skill

• How sustainability and diversity are shaping hiring decisions

• Why long-term thinking beats quick wins in recruitment

If you recruit in beauty, FMCG, or niche markets – or just want to hear how recruitment works when you know your product inside out – this one’s for you.

// ABOUT HEIDI BANNISTER

Heidi Bannister is the Founder and Managing Director of Arthur Edward, a specialist recruitment agency serving the beauty, cosmetics, and personal care sectors. With a career that began in product development and marketing, Heidi has spent over two decades recruiting across the full product lifecycle and is an active member of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists, the British Society of Perfumers, and Cosmetic Executive Women.

// ABOUT WAVE⁠⁠⁠⁠

Wave⁠⁠⁠⁠ is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

In this episode of Talent Matters, Mark Cox, Director & Partner at PiC, shares how building strong relationships and adapting to change has helped him grow a trusted recruitment business into a global success story.

Starting out in recruitment by chance, Mark talks about the lessons learned from 20+ years in the industry — from the days of faxing CVs to leading international teams across 15+ countries today. He shares why human connection still beats technology, and how evolving markets demand evolving strategies.

We talk about:

• Why long-term relationships, not quick wins, drive recruitment success

• How PiC tailored their approach to different international markets

• Why partnering with TA teams leads to better outcomes

• How to adapt to IR35 with project-based recruitment solutions

• Why tough markets are the perfect time to innovate and change

  
  

If you’re scaling a recruitment agency, thinking about international growth, or simply want to hear from someone who’s stayed at the top of their game by always putting people first, this one’s for you.

// ABOUT MARK COX
Mark Cox is the Director & Partner at PiC, a specialist recruitment agency with over three decades of experience in investment management and financial technology recruitment. With more than 20 years of personal industry experience, Mark leads PiC’s global expansion, helping businesses solve recruitment challenges with compliant, high-quality solutions built on trust and expertise.

// ABOUT WAVE
⁠⁠⁠⁠Wave⁠⁠⁠⁠ is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

In this episode of Talent Matters, Duncan Seward, Managing Director at IRG Law, shares how niching down into legal recruitment helped him build a high-integrity agency that clients and candidates come back to. Again and again.

Starting out in IT recruitment, Duncan talks about the moment he realised trying to be everything to everyone wasn’t working, and why legal felt like the right fit for a more focused, expert-led approach.

We talk about:

• Why niching down gives you an edge in both credibility and delivery

• How IRG Law maps the legal market to personalise outreach and reduce noise

• What makes legal recruitment different, and more structured, than tech

• How trust, honesty and long-term thinking build stronger client relationships

• The real limits of AI in recruitment (and why people still matter most)

If you’re building a recruitment agency, considering a niche, or just rethinking what “doing it right” really means, this one’s for you.

// ABOUT DUNCAN SEWARD
Duncan is the Managing Director at IRG Law, a boutique legal recruitment agency specialising in roles across Residential and Commercial Property, Construction, Private Client, Family Law and more. With over two decades of recruitment experience, Duncan brings commercial insight and deep market expertise to a values-led business built on trust and transparency.

// ABOUT WAVE
⁠⁠⁠Wave⁠⁠⁠ is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

In this episode of Talent Matters, Ellie Cree, Managing Director at Savvy Recruitment, shares how her journey from junior recruiter to qualified therapist to MD shaped her people-first approach to leadership.

Ellie opens up about leaving Savvy to go travelling, training in psychodynamic therapy, and returning to help run the business with honesty, empathy, and a clear focus on personal growth.

We talk about:

• What a people-first recruitment agency looks like in practice

• How therapy informs Ellie’s approach to managing people and placing candidates

• Why honesty and transparency are more powerful than KPIs and "smile while you dial"

• What success really means and why bigger isn’t always better

• How to reframe recruitment as a vehicle for achieving personal goals

If you're in recruitment, leadership, or just figuring out what meaningful work looks like, this one's for you.

// ABOUT ELLIE CREE

Ellie is the Managing Director at Savvy Recruitment, a people-first agency specialising in the creative and media space. With a background in psychodynamic therapy, she blends empathy and honesty into every part of her leadership style, supporting her team to achieve their personal goals while building long-term, values-led client relationships.

// ABOUT WAVE

⁠⁠Wave⁠⁠ is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

Marketing in recruitment isn’t just about making things look good. It’s about driving real business results.

But what happens when you’re a one-person marketing team managing multiple brands, juggling content, data, tech, and strategy all at once?

In this episode of Talent Matters, we sit down with Gemma Garcia Gamble, Marketing Manager at Murray McIntosh, to talk about the realities of being a full-stack marketer in recruitment.

From balancing strategy with execution to proving marketing’s value in a sales-driven industry, Gemma shares how she keeps things running, the tech and tactics that actually work, and why recruitment agencies need to stop treating marketing as an afterthought.

What to expect in this episode:

• The biggest challenges of being a solo marketer in recruitment
• Why one-off marketing efforts don’t work and what to do instead
• How to track the right data (without drowning in vanity metrics)
• The role of content and partnerships in recruitment marketing
• AI, tech stacks, and how to make marketing more efficient

If you’re a marketer in the recruitment space, or just want to understand how marketing can actually drive revenue, this episode is for you.

// ABOUT GEMMA GARCIA GAMBLE

Gemma Garcia Gamble is the Marketing Manager at Murray McIntosh, leading marketing across four specialist brands. A full-stack marketer with experience in SaaS, recruitment, and manufacturing, she specialises in data-driven, tech-focused marketing that aligns with business goals and drives results.

// ABOUT WAVE

⁠Wave⁠ is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.

In this episode of Talent Matters, Dave Jenkins sits down with Ashby Jenkins, CEO of Ashby Jenkins Recruitment, to discuss the challenges facing recruiters in 2024. From the pressure to lower fees to the growing role of AI, Ashby shares her insights on what it takes to run a successful, relationship-led recruitment business.

She breaks down why cutting fees can backfire, how recruiters can improve their sales approach, and why building long-term client trust is more important than ever. Ashby also offers a candid take on AI’s impact on hiring and what recruiters should be doing to stay ahead.

What to expect in this episode:

• Why lowering recruitment fees can be a costly mistake
• The key to building genuine, long-term client relationships
• Why recruiters struggle with sales and how to fix it
• AI in recruitment. Opportunity or threat?
• Lessons from running a recruitment agency since 2018

This episode is packed with valuable insights for recruiters, agency leaders, and anyone navigating today’s competitive hiring landscape.

// ABOUT ASHBY JENKINS

Ashby Jenkins is the CEO of Ashby Jenkins Recruitment, a boutique agency specialising in fundraising, marketing, and operations roles within the charity sector. With a background in corporate fundraising, Ashby brings first-hand industry experience to her recruitment approach. She and her team pride themselves on being relationship-led, acting as true partners to their clients and candidates.

// ABOUT WAVE

Wave is the candidate attraction solution for recruitment agencies. Source high-calibre candidates faster and hassle-free. Build and grow a high-performing recruitment website. Buy and manage your job board contracts with ease.