Morson Group has once again been named on the Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) Staffing 100 Europe list. Selection for the list recognises our contribution to the recruitment industry and marks us out as innovators in this space.
SIA is a global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions. Now in its ninth year, the annual SIA Staffing 100 Europe list recognises the most influential staffing leaders from across Europe, and their contribution to furthering the workforce solutions ecosystem.
Morson’s CEO, Ged Mason, and COO, Adrian Adair, are both named on the list. Morson’s leadership team and staff of more than 1000 recruitment professionals are building on a 50+ year legacy in more than 60 locations worldwide. Morson Group continues to deliver an industry-leading service across eight brands
Ged Mason comments:
“2022 is a momentous year for us in so many ways. As a company, one of the ways in which we set ourselves apart is our commitment to driving a synergy between our goal of delivering a sustainable skills pipeline for our clients and our vision for delivering social value and inspiring future generations.
“This year, our funding commitment to support the University of Salford has resulted in the new Maker Space and Morson Engine Room within the university’s new interdisciplinary Science, Engineering & Environment Building. This innovative facility enables students to experiment and collaborate with hands-on access to equipment that they may go on to use in STEM-based workplaces.
“It builds on our achievements in enabling young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their full potential with the Gerry Mason Engineering Scholarship and the Morson Scholarship, which have resulted in 53 students accessing higher education so far.”
This passion for developing initiatives that answer businesses’ future skills requirements while enhancing the career prospects of future generations draws on the experience and vision of Morson’s entire leadership team and is part of the company’s wider ESG strategy. This year has also seen Morson complete the loop for inspiring future generations to study STEM subjects and aim for aspirational careers thanks to a partnership with IntoUniversity, an organisation that provides local centres where young people are inspired to learn and achieve.
“Morson’s sponsorship of the IntoUniversity Salford Central centre will help to capture young hearts and minds early, encouraging them to believe in their own potential, which will shape both their future and the UK’s skills landscape.”
Ged Mason
The SIA Staffing 100 Europe list recognises how hard Morson’s senior team are working to tackle current workplace challenges. COO Adrian Adair said
“Covid had a massive impact on our business, our industry and our clients and, thanks to the family values embedded in the business, we worked together to support colleagues, peers, clients and candidates through those difficult times. We were able to work strategically with clients, advising them as they overcame the skilling and operational challenges they faced.
“Post Covid, as the recruitment environment shifts again, our approach is not just filling roles, but understanding the needs of each client and supporting them with their people strategy, whether that’s delivering improved diversity and inclusion, accessing hard to reach skills, or attracting transferable skills into their sector.
“Recent upheavals, such as the announcement that IR35 reforms would be repealed, followed by a U-turn to keep them in place, indicate how important it is that we remain agile and respond to our clients’ needs in real time. I believe our success in achieving that goal is one of the key reasons why Morson has consistently made it onto the SIA staffing 100 list.”
Adrian Adair
“This accolade reflects the hard work, commitment and creative thinking across the whole Morson team and we are extremely proud to acknowledge this collective achievement and receive this recognition once again.”
October is Black History Month in the UK. At Morson, we’re proud to come from the diverse and vibrant city of Manchester, so we’ve decided to take this opportunity to celebrate some brilliant Black leaders who hail from our great city.
Len Johnson
Looking to the past we have Len Johnson, an extraordinary boxer who was denied the opportunity to fight for the title of British champion. Born in Clayton in 1902 he was the son of Margaret and William Benker Johnson. Johnson’s mother was of Irish descent and his father was Sierra Leone Creole.
Len began boxing as a teenager and after a few years building his reputation and winning fight after fight, he should have been a shoo-in for the British championship. However, boxing regulations at the time stated that to compete for a title both fighters had to have two white parents. As a result of this ‘colour bar’ Johnson was excluded.
Despite this Johnson continued to fight and to win, gaining huge support and many fans in Manchester. He even travelled to Australia and won the middleweight category of the ‘British Empire championship’ in 1926. But upon his return to the UK, the boxing authorities refused to recognise his title.
By 1933, Johnson had had enough. He retired from boxing with 96 wins in 135 fights and took up the fight for racial equality instead. Johnson became a prominent local left-wing and anti-racist activist. He attended the 5th Pan African Congress in Manchester in 1945, stood as a candidate for Manchester City Council and set up the New International Club, which aimed to be both a social club and an organising space for black people to unite and solve their problems in Manchester. He may not have become a champion in the boxing ring, but Len Johnson was certainly a champion in the Manchester community.
Professor Erinma Bell MBE
Our present-day hero is Professor Erinma Bell MBE, a peace activist recognised for her work tackling gun crime in Moss Side and Longsight.
At its peak in the early 00s, gun crime was a huge problem for Greater Manchester, earning the city the nickname ‘Gunchester’. The area of Moss Side where Professor Bell grew up was one of the worst affected and she was driven to action after she and her husband witnessed a shooting. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News she said “A friend of mine was shot and shot right in front of me. From that night I thought enough is enough because I didn’t want to have to go through that ever again. We needed to get local people to own the problem and concrete action.”
This personal experience led Erinma to found a local community organisation called CARISMA (Community Alliance for Renewal, Inner South Manchester Area) in 2003. The charity’s mission was to give young people positive alternatives to crime. CARISMA’s work, alongside the police and other community groups, led to a reduction of gun and gang crime by 92% in Manchester
Professor Bell has received numerous accolades for her incredible work including, an MBE in 2010. She became Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester in 2011 and named Honorary Professor at the University of Salford in 2019. Most significantly, in 2017 Erinma became the ‘first and only woman to have a statue of herself in Manchester Town Hall – in 150 Years!’. The sculpture, a one-and-a-half life-sized bust, is made out of 50 lethal firearms seized by police or surrendered during gun amnesties. Manchester-based artists’ collective ‘Guns to Goods’ melted them down and turned them into the sculpture. It now takes pride of place inside Manchester town hall’s sculpture hall.
Nile Henry
Finally we have Nile Henry – a dynamic young tech leader, founder and CEO of The Blair Project.
The Blair Project’s mission is ‘diversify the STEM workforce and accelerate the world’s transition to net zero through sustainable motorsport!’. It aims to inspire the next generation of green tech workforce through digital manufacturing and design project activities.
Nile was 18 years old when he set up the organisation. He created, developed, and secured funding for a STEM education programme called the ProtoEV Challenge. It’s the ultimate motorsport STEM competition for schools, colleges, and youth clubs in the UK. Teams learn how to retrofit petrol go-karts and convert them into fully electric e-karts which they get to race to see which is the fastest and most energy efficient.
“Diversity, fairness and social justice has always been important to me… When you surround yourself with people who are not like you, who talk differently, who think differently, who experience life differently, the IQ of the group becomes bigger and stronger. No one person can create success on their own- It takes a winning team and helping hands.” – Nile Henry
Nile is also the director of a new £4m Net Zero industrialisation and electrification training centre called the Manchester Innovation Activities Hub (MIAH). MIAH will provide SMEs with industrial-grade equipment to prototype Net Zero innovations, in addition to rapidly upskilling Manchester residents for specialist technical jobs within Manchester Science Park.
Black History month provides the opportunity to reflect on the incredible achievements of Black British people. At Morson, we are committed to improving the diversity of our company and building inclusive cultures every day. We believe that diversity promotes innovation by bringing multiple perspectives to discussions and decisions. We are proud to offer ED&I consultancy services to companies who share this point of view.
We are thrilled to announce that Morson has been named a double winner in this year’s APSCo Awards for Excellence. We scooped the RPO of the Year Award for RP01 by Morson Group, and OutSource Leader of the Year Award for Group Sales Director, David Lynchehaun.
The prestigious awards programme from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), includes some of the recruitment industry’s most coveted accolades, showcasing quality, innovation and a commitment to customer service in the industry. We attended the awards on the 20th September at the NatWest Bishopsgate Conference Centre in London.
For the RPO of the Year Award, we impressed the judges with examples of keeping our promises to deliver an outstanding recruitment outsourcing process for clients. The award recognised fantastic results by RP01 over the past 12 months across a number of client initiatives. The judges praised our team for having a ‘deep knowledge of their craft’.
David Lynchehaun is the first-ever winner of the OutSource Leader of the Year APSCo Awards for Excellence category. The category rewards recruitment industry professionals who have demonstrated great leadership skills in inspiring and motivating their teams. Judges commented on David’s leadership qualities, including authenticity, ambition, drive, consistency and passion. They also praised him for creating a safe and supportive environment for the Morson Group team to learn and develop.
Commenting on the double success at the awards, David said:
“These awards involve a robust entry process that considers detailed evidence and we are delighted to have been named as winners in two categories against strong competition from some of the most successful and well-known names in the recruitment industry.
Above all, however, it is our passion for supporting our clients as they recruit the talent they need to compete, grow and thrive that drives us to focus on continuous improvement, innovation and strategic thinking. Whether we are providing an outsourced recruitment process, director level appointments, temporary labour, or skilled contractors, ours is a people business and it is by understanding and responding to the needs of individuals at every link in the human resource chain that we add value to organisations.”
Through RP01 we deliver more than a talent solution, we optimise your entire recruitment process. Find out more.
We are delighted to announce that the Gerry Mason Engineering Scholarship has seen its 50th local scholar enrol at the University of Salford this year. Morson Group, together with the Mason family, are proud to have created a legacy that benefits our local communities.
Supporting the young people of Salford
We established the scholarship in 2015, in memory of our founder Gerry Mason, a design engineer himself. The scholarship aims to continue his legacy by enabling budding engineers to study degree-level courses rooted in STEM. These scholarships focus on nurturing future skills for various sectors, including aerospace, automotive, infrastructure, nuclear, engineering, IT & digital, and more.
From the outset, the goal of the scholarship was to help young people from Salford reach their full potential, by removing financial and social barriers to attending university. Now, our partnership with IntoUniversity, an organisation that supports young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in achieving their goals, the scholarships have created a lasting partnership between Morson and the University.
Ged Mason OBE, CEO of Morson Group, explains:
“We work with some of the most successful companies in the world, and with highly educated candidates from across the globe, but our company hails from humble beginnings in Salford where so many young people miss out on education and training opportunities because of social deprivation.
“Fixing the issues in a community like central Salford where, according to the 2019 End Child Poverty Report, more than half of young people are growing up in poverty, cannot happen overnight. But, by helping young people access opportunities with a scholarship that would make my father proud, we enable those individuals to reach their full potential and inspire others to achieve, all whilst breaking down stereotypes, driving diversity and inclusivity, and creating a long-lasting legacy.”
For the past seven years, the Gerry Mason Engineering Scholarship and the Morson Group Scholarship – launched in 2019 to specifically support students completing a computing degree – have delivered Gerry’s vision for helping young people in Salford aspire and achieve. Thanks to funding and an active partnership with the University of Salford, 37 out of 53 scholars have now graduated. From creating the innovative Maker Space that teaches students real-world technical skills, to individual scholarships, Morson Group has been a driving force in life-changing projects that make a difference.
Plans for the future
The most recent initiative is a new IntoUniversity hub at the Beacon Centre in Salford, co-funded by Morson Group. It will work in the heart of the local community to support young people from ages 7 to 18.
Ged continues:
“Encouraging people to aspire and believe in their potential begins at a young age, so this new centre is just as important as the funding we provide to enable young people to access university education.
“It will work closely with schools and families at grassroots level to ensure children are encouraged from an early age – by both their schools and their parents – to follow their dreams, aim higher and attain the opportunities they deserve. Together, we can provide education and career pathways for life, from work experience opportunities to roles at every stage of a person’s career, which is a catalyst for something truly remarkable.”
A positive impact
Amongst the Gerry Mason Engineering Scholarship students to graduate this summer was BSc (Hons) Computer Science scholar, Alisha Sadiq.
“This scholarship has made me feel so much more motivated to work hard and excel in my studies at university. To have a donor who believes in me and supports me is something I’m incredibly grateful for.”
Professor Helen Marshall, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Salford, said:
“As a university, we have a strong track record in the area of widening participation and are motivated to help students realise their full potential. Our partnership with Morson Group is something we value greatly. I am delighted to work with them on the launch of a new IntoUniversity right here on our doorstep in Salford. The new centre will engage traditionally under-represented groups and aid our shared mission to give all students the best possible opportunity in life to succeed.”
Dr. Rachel Carr, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of IntoUniversity, said:
“Collaboration is at the heart of everything that IntoUniversity does and we are delighted to be working with Morson Group, alongside the Universities of Salford and Manchester, to support students in central Salford. Our new centre will offer an innovative programme that supports young people to realise their ambitions, achieve their academic potential, develop vital skills and gain experience of the world of work; opportunities that would not be available without the incredible support of our partners.”
Read more about the IntoUniversity launch in Salford and its Salford donors here. At Morson, we believe that our business is defined, not by what we gain, but by what we give back. Find out more about our commitment to the community
From humble beginnings in founder Ben Francis’s parent’s garage in 2012, Gymshark has become a powerhouse of the fitness industry with 5.8 million followers on Instagram and a turnover of £401.9 million last year. In this month’s brand spotlight, we take a look at their journey and consider what leadership lessons we can learn from Gymshark’s success story
Origins
Gymshark was not Francis’s first attempt at building a business. While working part-time as a student he dabbled in building fitness tracking apps and drop-shipping health supplements. Ben’s passion for fitness was always the driving force behind his business dreams. So, when he was struggling to find gym clothes like the ones his fitness idols in the USA we wearing, he decided to make them himself.
“We saw the problem, and we solved it. We created bodybuilding and fitness wear inspired by what our heroes wore, and made it fit to our body types. We designed for ourselves (we were the customer) we spoke to the fitness market that wasn’t being spoken to.“
Gymshark’s big break came at the 2013 Bodypower expo and the launch of their luxe tracksuits, modelled by some of their favourite athletes. Customers flocked to their stand and the tracksuit sold out completely.
“Although now it makes total sense, at the time, to have an open stand, with famous Youtubers wandering around and launching a product at the event – this was unique.”
Francis sent samples of his clothes to his favourite fitness YouTubers (in the early 2010s YouTube was the rising star of social media), in the hope that they would love the products and wear them in their videos. Their strategy worked and Gymshark’s brand ambassadors, each with a huge social media following of their own, have become the cornerstone of their marketing strategy.
At this point, Gymshark seemed unstoppable, and Francis’ leadership was remarkable for his youth and level of experience but exponential growth doesn’t come without its challenges. The brand’s 2015 Black Friday sale should have been a triumphant moment, but instead saw the Gymshark website crash under demand.
“The failure cost Gymshark an estimated $143,000 in lost sales. Worse, it also cost the company the trust it had spent years earning from customers expecting a great experience.
Francis penned more than 2,500 handwritten apologies that included discounts to those who were affected by the Black Friday crash.”
It is this authenticity and commitment to his customers that allowed Francis to weather this storm. 2015 is also the year that he decided to step down as CEO.
‘You end up having to balance your time between day-to-day activities for the role you’re working in, but you also have the inevitable founder and director responsibilities – like understanding financials, business structures, managing risk, long term plans, attending board meetings and so on. This is a lot to manage for anyone, let alone a young entrepreneur who has little to no prior business experience.’
Francis recognised that he still had a lot to learn about leadership and so appointed Steve Hewitt to the role of Gymshark CEO.
“It allowed me to spend my spare time working on my weaknesses… I’ve been able to learn and grow at a turbo-charged rate that will stand me in good stead over the next ten years, learning at a rate otherwise impossible.”
Fast forward to August 2021 and Francis was ready to step back into the role of CEO and his ambitions for the brand are huge, in the video announcing his appointment he sets out his vision
‘We want this to be one of the greatest brands on the planet, we want this to be a brand that outlasts anyone in this building. I want this to be a brand that generations to come can also be proud of.’
Francis’s ambitions may seem lofty but given Gymshark’s incredible journey from garage workshop to international heavyweight, we wouldn’t bet against them. So what insights can we take away from this young entrepreneur’s story? Here are our four main takeaways.
The power of authenticity
Gymshark is a brand that really lives its values. This can be seen through their blog, which covers the lifting techniques, high protein recipes and product releases that you would expect from a sportswear brand. But, there is also a mental health hub: Deload, a demonstration of Vogueing and a diverse range of models, in terms of body type, skin tone, and disability, all wearing Gymshark clothes. The tagline ‘united we sweat’ underpins the idea that everyone is welcome in the Gymshark community. It’s a thread that you can see through the website, social media and choice of ambassadors.
This commitment to authenticity is further demonstrated by voluntarily publishing their ethnicity pay gap report and factory list alongside the mandatory gender pay gap report and tax strategy. This transparency demonstrates to customers and clients alike that Gymshark’s values are more than just taglines, but a set of principles that guide everything they do.
Understand and appreciate every function in your business
Putting ego aside for the good of the business is not something you would necessarily expect from such a young entrepreneur, but Francis has shown on multiple occasions that the business comes first. Following his decision to step back as CEO he took on the roles of Chief brand officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Product officer to fully understand each function of the Gymshark brand while building his leadership skills.
“I’ve worked in so many different facets of the business, I really think I’m in an amazing position now where I can amalgamate all of that knowledge, experience and expertise, and hopefully be the person that can really help to lead Gymshark to this next level.”
Nurture your people; from your employees to the wider community
Of course, not everyone can utilise an army of social media influencers with thousands of followers, but you do have ambassadors. Are your employees proud to represent your company? Do your contractors return time and again? Would your clients recommend you to their stakeholders? Each of these individuals and groups has its own sphere of influence.
The Gymshark brand represents a diverse community of fitness enthusiasts from all walks of life. We see this not only in branding but also in their employer mission to be a place where everyone belongs.
Gymshark’s employees are at the heart of their employer brand and they proudly show them off through their ‘day in the life of‘ and ‘meet the family’ posts on LinkedIn and support them through the community events focused on health and wellbeing.
Looking after the employees you already have will help you to attract the brightest talent in the future. Morson can support you to build an employer brand to be proud of.
Trust your team, they’re better than you
You are never too important to ask for help. Despite being the founder of the company, Francis realised that Gymshark needed a CEO with more leadership experience, so he appointed someone who he could learn from.
‘As the business grew, it became clear that we needed a CEO who would manage the entire business. Steve Hewitt was clearly the person for this. He became the CEO in 2017 and we started the creation of the Gymshark board.
It allowed me to watch how Steve works, and learn from him. I’m a firm believer that you can learn extremely well by watching what others do who are better than you, ask them questions about why they do certain things, and truly understand what they do.
Morson has a wealth of experience in recruiting the right people with the right technical skills for your business, whether that’s a new CEO or a technical specialist. You can even outsource your recruitment to us entirely through our RPO and MSP services. Our end-to-end solutions optimise every aspect of the recruitment process. With Morson as your recruitment partner, you’ll have an expert on hand to find the right people for every type of role.
