The challenges
Brightwater was established in Manchester in 1995 by David and Charlotte Bloch. In 1998 the company opened an office in Dublin. A year later, the Blochs sold their Manchester operation to concentrate on developing the Dublin one.
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Brightwater’s initial focus was on accountancy positions in practice, tax, financial services and industry. In 2000, the company moved into banking and has since expanded into other areas such as legal and engineering. In 2005, the company launched Brightwater Support which recruits staff for hotel, catering, secretarial, administrative and call-centre positions.
The company employs more than 90 people and had a turnover in 2005 of €12m. When the Enterprise Network visited last October, the firm’s challenges were identified as ensuring those who accept job offers actually take up the positions, identifying the best European markets for expansion and integrating Brightwater Support into the group.
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What the experts said
Ed McDonald, of the Marketing Institute, said the Blochs should consider an employee shareholding scheme as a means of fostering management commitment.
Ian Mernagh, of Bank of Ireland, said the firm needed to recruit and retain high-calibre consultants to drive its growth and that benefit packages would assist with this.
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Action taken
Last March, Brightwater opened an office in Cork, which now employs 10 people. It services all sectors, but key areas are accountancy, legal and pharmaceuticals. The company also opened a Brightwater Support outlet in Belfast in June.
During the year, two new appointments were made at senior operational level, and managing director David Bloch took a step back from day-to-day operations to focus on developing the group’s strategic plan.
In particular he is looking at how best to approach the overseas expansion the company is hoping to launch in 2008.
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Conclusion
“We have had a very good year with growth of about 35%,” said Bernadette Cox, Brightwater’s deputy managing director. “We feel the firm is almost operating at capacity, but there is a lot of scope to develop the support side of the business.
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“The strong demand for good quality candidates continues in the recruitment marketplace, but we are experiencing a worrying reluctance by Irish companies, large and small, to recruit non-nationals.
“This is very surprising given the level of skills many overseas candidates have to offer.”