Since setting up my first GmbH in 1997 in Hamburg I have had constant involvement in this market. It is a very conservative market and still highly fragmented. The mid-senior, qualified specialist recruitment profession is mostly dominated by small, privately owned firms. British firms in particular find it difficult to get right.

Estimates put the number of actual recruitment firms here at less than 5000. once you get beyond the large household brands, i.e. the top 50, there is a drop to what Germany is famous for, the Small & Medium sized enterprise. However comparing the aspirations of these home-grown companies to the more entrepreneurial international players across the globe, it’s easy to see why companies entering without a well researched strategy and local insight fail. This is a whole topic on it’s own.

For the past 30 years I have lived mostly in Germany and Russia building or supporting quality volume recruitment firms in these markets. Germany has been my permanent home for over 10 years and I am fully settled around the Frankfurt area.

James Caan CBE, the hugely successfuly entrepreneur engaged me to realise his vision to enerize the German recruitment profession. His venture, Recruitment Entrepreneur is focussed on enabling talented and experienced recruiters to take the big step to running and scaling their own recruitment businesses. During my time working with James I initiated discussions with 18 of Germany’s most successful privately owned firms as potential Local Partners. I also brought two potential ventures to pre-launch stage before the decision was taken to prioritise other faster developing markets internationally. I feel entrepreneurship in the Anglo-Saxon sense is still a way off in Germany!

Needless to say my time working closely with one of the best known International Industry “names” was both educational and a hugely enjoyable experience. I now look to bring some of what I have gained with James and the team and my 30 years in Talent to my portfolio of clients in Germany and beyond.