Elvet Recruitment growing through people
The directors of Elvet Recruitment, Michael Dufferwiel and Stephen Phillips enlisted the support of previous start-up support programmes through Durham City Incubator (DCI) and Durham Ambitious Business Start-ups (DABS) to help provide a solid foundation to launch Elvet Recruitment. Little did they expect that three years on from the birth of their business, they would have a team of five and have expanded into their third office.
While Michael acknowledges the risks and fears of starting up during the COVID pandemic, he explains that they were confident in the construction industry’s ability to recover quickly and in their recruitment experience. But he and Stephen had never run a business, so they wanted to further develop as leaders and ensure they anticipated and planned for as many challenges as possible.
“What Stephen and I valued most was the support and the learning tools we were given,” Michael says. “It wasn’t always the most revolutionary things that actually helped us – it was the basic questions that got us thinking about what we wanted to be as a company and an employer. The start-up support provided helped us identify our company values, which has really helped shape our messaging and define the kind of people we want to work here in future.”
Setting up a new business is a busy time, and it can be difficult to know where to start, so the directors were grateful for the support they were provided.
“The support was quick and responsive,” Michael explains. “They put our minds at rest, giving reassurance and guidance. Any phone calls were backed up with emails, so it made it easy for us to reply, and they supported us through the whole process.”
“The support has allowed us to grow and serve more of the construction industry. There has been a real shortage of skilled people in the industry and good consultants are key to creating solutions to help bridge that gap,” Michael continues.
“It is a fantastic feeling to be able to create new jobs internally. We have employed some great people here and we want to continue growing. Not just established people either – we are keen to help train and develop our own people.”
Building Elvet Recruitment into a business that people strive to work for is what spurred the directors to start their own company and what will drive their future growth.
Michael says: “We believe in the growth of people and growth through people – whether that’s someone who is able to develop in their current role, or an organisation who can give you the platform and environment to succeed and progress.”
“That is not only our message to the outside world, but also something we will aim to practice internally too. We want to create a positive culture and environment where people are supported and thrive, and where they are well-rewarded for doing so and can progress their career.”
Growing through people will be the key to Elvet’s success as the company plans for national growth. Michael and Stephen are excited to see if the company can over-achieve again this year.
The director says: “Our ambition has always been to grow.
“We currently serve the North East and Yorkshire predominantly, but there is a lot of work in other regions where we feel that we could add a lot of value. It comes down to recruiting more people who share our values. We’re hoping by the end of this year we might have another two to five employees.”
Elvet Recruitment has charted a clear path to growth and is in a great position to achieve it.
Michael concludes: “Starting a business can be scary, but it’s great. There’s a lot of challenges you don’t always expect, but we couldn’t have asked for a better response to us setting up. A lot of people are supporting us, wanting to work with us, and people want to come and work for us, so it’s been really humbling.”
Can you follow in the footsteps of Michael and Stephen and grow a successful business in three years? There’s some amazing help for you through our Durham Startups programme.
If you are thinking about starting a business, have an idea for a community business, or need to kickstart your start-up, Durham Startups provides a single point of contact for you to access a broad range of business support in County Durham.
Simply call 0191 6251221 or email durhamstartups@umi.co.uk and we’ll introduce you to one of our start-up solutions advisors who will identify your business support needs and connect you to a wide range of experts, workshops and more.
Durham Startups (part of Enterprising Durham Framework) is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund until March 2025.