“ ”Hays is one of the most historic companies present on the London Stock Exchange. The company was founded in 1867 as an operator of wharves and ware-houses on the south bank of the River Thames. Their recruitment business was launched in 1969 and ten years ago they completed a divestment process to focus exclusively on quali�ed, professional and skilled recruitment. Last year their experts placed around 57,000 people into permanent jobs and around 212,000 people into temporary assignments.

Your Spanish business was launched in Septem-ber 2001. Highlight the favourable factors and barriers for your business here.

We were used to a di�cult trading environment from the start! Since then we have developed into a multi-sector recruitment business with 3 service o�erings and over 100 employees across 5 cities.

Your business has been very challenging in Spain during recent years. However, has the economic crisis a�ected your business in any aspect?

In all honesty I didn’t know whether or not it was possible to run a pro�table recruitment business in a country with sustained levels of unemployment above 25%. However, with the strong support of a head o�ce that values our business in Spain very highly, we were able to adjust to the new market and ensure a healthy balance of pro�tability and market share. Our role is very di�erent to pre-reces-sionary times – we are managing a lower volume of roles while the number of applications has increa-sed exponentially, we receive around 1,000 CV’s every day. We �nd it very rewarding when we �nd the right job for someone who has been out of work, or the right career jump for someone who is capable of more than their current position o�ers them. At the same time, the impact of successful recruitment on our clients’ companies is also very satisfying; we are still in touch with people that we placed over a decade ago.

The brand Hays Response was created as a new service o�ering in 2012. Now Response operates in Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Brazil. Additiona-lly you are planning to further this service in two other countries. Highlight a project or relevant development of your company in Spain or in the UK.

We have found that being in a low-growth economy has enabled us to innovate and become a testing-ground for global initiatives.

We have developed a leading role in communica-tions within the labour market in Spain, doing our part to help the country improve the world of work with analysis and opinion such as the Guía Hays and the Hays Global Skills Index. We have also piloted schemes such as the Hays Service Standards, a com-mitment to minimum levels of service.

This culture of innovation also enabled the launch of the Hays Response brand. We realised that compa-nies externalise for one of two reasons: when they do not have the relevant know-how to achieve a result, and when it is not an e�cient investment of resources to do so. We had been addressing both needs through a single methodology and decided to launch Hays Response in order to focus exclusi-vely on e�ciency-based recruitment.

Hays joined the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain about 4 years ago. How would you sum-marize how the Chamber has supported your company?

A quick look at the list of members shows that we have had commercial dealings with about 30 of our co-members in that time. Some are clients, some are suppliers, some are both and some are neither because the commercial bids weren’t successful, but the mutual membership of the Chamber has provi-ded us with a great platform to talk. It gives people the opportunity to know you and trust you. We have also taken the opportunity to sponsor various successful Chamber events and increase our brand visibility, as well as speaking to many decision makers in business and government. Hays has now joined the British Chamber in nearly all of the 33 countries from which we operate. The cost of annual sustaining membership is a lot lower than a single advert in most media and in my opinion we get a tremendous return on investment. Apart from which, I enjoy it!

The mutual membership of the Chamber has provided us with a great platform to talk. It gives people the opportunity to know you and trust you

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Christopher Dottie, Managing Director of Spain at Hays Recruiting Experts Worldwide and Vice-Presi-dent of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain

Christopher Dottie, Managing Director of Spain at Hays Recruiting Experts Worldwide and Vice-President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain

We have found that being in a low-growth economy has enabled us to innovate and become a testing-ground for global initiatives