Season 9 | Ep27 Andy Strong: Why He Waited 17 Years to Start His Own Recruitment Business

The RAG Podcast · 2026-04-28 · 1h 17m

Episode notes

Andy Strong spent 10 years in retail selling mobile phones. Then 17 years building the biggest delivery team at a SaaS recruitment firm in Dorset. He became one of four divisional directors. His team placed 82% of the company's US hires from Poole. He drove 400% growth in North American placements. And then he went to therapy. Eight sessions later, he ended an eight-year relationship, resigned from the only recruitment business he had ever known, and started a company from a shed at the bottom of his garden. Strong Search launched with no brand, no pipeline, and no office. Four retained roles landed in month one. By the end of year one: $1 million in revenue, 39 placements, 100% placement retention, and a team of seven. He turned down work with one of the largest software companies in the world because it did not fit what he stands for. He hired an operations and marketing manager before he hired another recruiter. And he recently appointed a Managing Director for North America who previously held senior roles at Coupa, Icertis, Yahoo, and Clari. "I spoke to a venture capitalist in May.

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