Why celebrating wins is your best power move

In the northern hemisphere, the mercury is falling, and it's time to go inside, or inwards… So in this issue, we will celebrate business and personal wins - because consciously celebrating what we’ve achieved is more than just popping champagne; it's a power move that fuels success and amplifies motivation. The end of the year is also a perfect time to look back with gratitude for everything that has been possible, thanking our teams and also ourselves.

When we intentionally celebrate our accomplishments, they serve as proof that we follow through, take the steps, and create results.

In 2023, I’ve had the pleasure of discussing AI with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak .

I’ve spoken at LEAP - the world’s most attended tech conference, and I’ve visited LinkedIn In HQ to deliver a keynote speech.

I’ve visited the school I set up in Pakistan.

I’ve delivered countless speeches, interviews, and awards. And I’ve also enjoyed downtime and spent precious time with friends and family.

This year I have also had the privilege of seeing the Recruitment Entrepreneur family of businesses grow and flourish, supported by an exceptional team.

Watching businesses develop and grow brings me joy in a way I would never have predicted as a 20 or 30-something-year-old business owner. That’s one of life’s greatest gifts: how it can surprise you and teach you things about yourself you never knew.

Let’s talk about the phenomenal growth story of Recruitment Entrepreneur , (or RE as we like to call it)

In 2023, RE has not only weathered economic uncertainties, political shifts, and pivotal technological advances, it has continued to grow and expand across the globe. This year we welcomed a host of exceptional and talented founders to the RE family:

We’ve significantly expanded the RE footprint in Eastern Europe, partnering with the executive talent agency NEEDLE RECRUITMENT in Slovakia, led by Peter Kratochvila . In Western Europe, we launched exciting partnerships with Sathya John at Pronto Recruitment and, in the Netherlands, we have partnered with FinTalent , led by financial recruitment superstars Zaker Sidiki and Varida Buitenhuis . In 2023, we partnered with the real estate and construction recruitment start-up Placed - Midwest Construction Specialists , which operates from both Ireland and the USA, led by Tom Willis .

In 2023, we welcomed exciting new joint ventures both internationally and in the UK, including:

• Dubai-based energy recruitment Diverse Resourcing led by Jamie Marland
• Digital recruitment specialists Uncommonly Good People, based in Singapore and led by Helen Buchan-Connor
• UK-based Pickhurst Partners, specialising in software engineers, dev ops, cloud computing, data, and AI, led by co-founders and directors David Parker and James Parker
• Nine Tech Solutions led by co-founders and directors Jack McLane and Louis Singleton, based in the UK and focusing on technology, sales, engineering, infrastructure
• Legacy London - where founder and director Dhana Toulson infuses her recruitment service with years of experience sourcing buyers, marketers, and commercial stars for some of the world’s most elegant glamorous brands.

We welcomed new RE country managers, including Jason Walker in New Zealand, Ranjit Doshi in India, and Chris Heselton for North America.

In January 2023, we launched the Recruitment Entrepreneur Podcast diving deep into the world of entrepreneurship and recruitment, providing insights and expertise from our experience as the UK’s #1 Investor for recruitment businesses. Hosted by investment manager April Turner and produced by Sophia Helden RE Content & Campaign Manager, it has been an electrifying and exciting journey with more than 5000 downloads so far. As well as myself, other podcast guests have included Mark Whitby from Resilient Recruiter, RE joint venture partners Grant Kaveney of GKR London, and Gemma Murphy and Richard Waterson of Hayward Hawk, Elaine Tyler, the CEO and Founder of Venatrix and Angus McDowell CFO at RE.

In February, I joined Isabelle Kumar in Riyadh at LEAP to talk about Sustaining the Tech Entrepreneurship Ecosystem - you can see the video here. I’m looking forward to returning to LEAP in February 2024 for the third consecutive year, where I’ll be speaking about the AI revolution and the remarkable ways businesses and entrepreneurs are harnessing its power on multiple platforms.

In May, we hired Ranj Singh as Managing Director of Recruitment Entrepreneur to head up some of our new campaigns.

Despite the softening in the market, we saw continued interest from organisations around the world who are inspired by the RE model - the quality of the businesses we build and the strength of the leadership within the partners that we back. In 2023, we were delighted to secure a buyer for our partner, cybersecurity recruitment services company Elite Cyber. We have also signed exclusivity for two more of RE portfolio businesses - which has given our entrepreneurs an amazing opportunity to achieve significant wealth in the business they created and built with RE.

During the first half of the year, we continued to create new partnerships with leading recruitment businesses across the globe, expanding the RE brand to ensure our global entrepreneurs have a localised team to support them as they launch and scale their business. These include our Dutch Partner, Timetohire , led by Edwin de Jonge and Milad Zandi in the Netherlands and our Spanish partner, beonit , led by Pablo Rodríguez .

In August, we extended our presence in the southern hemisphere and teamed up with Tribe Recruitment (James Brooke and Jenny Jones) to launch Recruitment Entrepreneur New Zealand. As our Partner for the country, Tribe has already started to shake up the NZ recruitment scene, empowering ambitious entrepreneurs to build thriving businesses. By combining global experience with local insights, we're not just making dreams come true – we're boosting the Kiwi economy.

In September, RE joined forces with the recruitment giant TekWissen ® who are now our new partner driving expansion in the US (North America) and India, under the leadership of brothers Manish, Sanjeev Senta, and Rajeev Senta.

In October, I joined LinkedIn guru Alex Charraudeau at LinkedIn’s London HQ for a special event called Recruitment Resilience: Navigating Challenges, Maximising Value, and I delivered a keynote class on building value in a recruitment business.

And we ended the year on a high when I visited LinkedIn’s New York headquarters on the 28th floor of the Empire State Building! Here at a special event organised by Tekwissen, I joined LinkedIn’s Economic Expert and Brian Delle Donne, CEO, Talent Tech Labs to host a Recruitment Resilience masterclass at New York's famous Empire State Building in December.

Remember, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Take one step at a time, celebrate small victories, and enjoy the journey. Embrace the process and learn from each experience. Your perseverance will lead you to greatness!

One of the things that fill me with the greatest joy as an entrepreneur is having the capacity to invest in projects and causes that are close to my heart. I set up the James Caan Foundation to help poor and underprivileged people around the world have the chance of a better life.

My father never had the opportunity to go to school, and in 2016, through the foundation, I set up a school in a village close to Lahore, Pakistan - the village where my dad grew up. This year I had the opportunity to visit the school - it now has 650 pupils, and I was so happy to see it thriving. It was amazing to speak with one of the teachers who was teaching English - she had been a student at the school and had come back to teach there. This was truly one of my most exciting moments in 2023, realising that the school really had come full circle.

So, what’s next?

I’m looking forward to bursting into 2024 at speed with the launch of EIGHT new RE joint ventures! And our new podcast series will hit the airwaves in January - so watch this space!

And I’ll also be back here with a newsletter in January, bringing you my personal tips and insights into setting goals, and a simple daily practice I follow to ensure I stay on track.

And finally,

If you’re a business, an employee, or an entrepreneur, we would love to hear about your big and small wins in 2023 in the comments below.

Wishing you a joyful Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year.

James.