An Interview with Croft & Co Founder: Alex Croft

An introduction to the firm from Alex Croft. He takes us through his journey in starting the business and his thoughts on what makes good hiring.

What were your reasons for starting Croft & Co?

I felt that there was a gap in the market for a firm that could take the best bits of contingent recruitment in terms of speed, persistence, and marketing our clients well within their niche. And combine that with what I feel are the best qualities of executive search: attention to detail, client centricity, and being led by the data.

Sitting at that equilibrium is where I want Croft & Co to be, helping our clients find tomorrow’s leaders and enabling them to grow and develop in the right way for long-term success. Ultimately we are here to help our clients and candidates ‘find brilliant’.

I have always wanted to start my own business, giving me an opportunity for serving and building relationships with new and old candidates & clients. Taking on the responsibility of ownership is one that I am looking forward to. Having struggled to find the ‘right’ career myself, I take great pleasure in helping people to find new roles and I’m looking forward to continuing this with my own firm.

How did you take your first steps in recruitment?

I started my recruitment career nearly 10 years ago, and like most people in our industry, I fell into the role. However, I quickly realised that I loved it, that I enjoyed building relationships and was good at connecting people. I have been very fortunate to work under some great tutelage, particularly as I was first starting out. And this has given me the experience and confidence to make my own path in this industry.

I often lived abroad during my childhood and into adulthood, which made me adept at reading and trying to understand people from various backgrounds and cultures. Part of my role is to help put the right people in the room to get to know each other, which I love doing to help my clients.

How do you think recruitment firms can better serve the finance industry?

There are a few things which I believe are the pillars of what recruitment firms should be for their clients. Firstly; they can act to market the client and the position. We take great care in ensuring that the role as well as the history and vision of the company reaches the right people with highly relevant skill sets. 

Secondly; firms have a crucial role in the negotiation process. Once the right candidate is chosen - and they feel it’s the right place for the next step in their career - we make sure that they get a package that is attractive to them and also works for the client. Importantly we do this with integrity so as to ensure that their nascent relationship opens well.

How do you achieve a high level of success in appointments?

One of the most important factors is that 35% of our work comes from referrals. People willing to put their faith in us and recommend us time and again means that the individuals we place are performing and stay where they are for several years.

We take great care to listen to our client briefs and guide where the best candidates for them might be currently working. We only work with ‘passive’ candidates, who are solicited directly by headhunting them. This ensures that the candidate offered is generally in no other process or very few.

We also specialise in our respective niches across front-office finance. We have relevant relationships with our candidate populations to ensure the right people are contacted at the right time for our client’s search.

What does data-led recruitment mean at Croft & Co?

Data led for us means giving clients and candidates all the information that they need to make an informed decision about the hiring process. Once the process nears completion, we ask all candidates we work with to provide complete current and historic compensation details. We are clear regarding other processes the candidate may be involved in, if any. 

We ensure that two or more references are provided once the decision has been made to offer the individual.

What are the candidates you speak to looking for in a role/company in 2024?

Most individuals we speak with are keen to understand where their skills work best for them. Obviously they want to be properly compensated for their services but also work in a culture and environment that suits them. One of the things that we aim to do is get an understanding of how that relationship between candidate and client is going to look before you have started working together. That way we place candidates that are going to stick around for several years and grow within the company.