20 Years of Collingwood Executive Search – A Quiet Milestone Worth Celebrating

This week, Collingwood Executive Search  turns 20 years old.

Now, I’m not usually one to shout about birthdays or business milestones… but when a colleague mentioned that only 1 in 5 businesses make it to 20 years, it made me pause, reflect and become very proud.

From the beginning, I think I was always destined to “be in business.” Growing up, my dad would take me to work on Sundays, introduce me to his customers, and bring me along to client dinners and play golf. Every year, without fail, we’d go to The Open—playing golf in the morning and watching the pros in the afternoon. I was the only one not drinking back then, so I had a bit of an edge in the morning money games!

(Fun fact: My dad was the Managing Director for the company that brought Care Bears to Europe. Remember them? 😊)

Those early experiences taught me something powerful: that relationships matter. That people matter. And that business, at its heart, is about trust and connection.

That belief has been at the core of Collingwood since day one, 20 years ago.

Like most “recruiters” I fell into the industry and have only worked for two recruitment companies. The Recruitment Management Group and Collingwood.

RMG was an amazing learning ground. The owner became a friend, and his management team invested time to turn me from an AWFUL #executivesearch consultant in year one to a top performing one by year two! The key was realising that I am NOT naturally a sales person, and that my success has been achieved by developing trusting relationships and doing the right thing every time for my clients. It has served me well and I remain in contact with some of my very first clients from 1997!!

I never had any intention of starting my own business but when my dad died at the age of 63 and before he managed to retire, I was determined to create an environment where my team and I placed family and wellbeing at the centre of what we did whilst we worked with aspirational clients. It still remains our key focus today.

Over the last two decades, we've experienced our fair share of highs and lows. We've weathered recessions, kept pace with a rapidly changing talent market, and adapted again and again — all while staying true to what we believe in: building trusting partnerships and helping businesses grow through great leadership.

What I’m most proud of isn’t just the longevity — it’s the people we’ve worked with, the clients we’ve helped, and the values we’ve never compromised on.

My current team asked me about my proudest moments over the last 20 years and there are truly far too many to list here BUT, here are my top 5:

1. Receiving a call from the RNLI (they gained a glowing referral about Collingwood and our work) and we worked with them to successfully make 2 key appointments to their Board
2. Working with Belden Inc. for 19 years this year. I love this client! I love the people, their culture and, as you can imagine, our 19-year partnership has been very fulfilling. They are certainly not the same company that we set out working with
3. Seeing one of my colleagues come to Collingwood with no confidence, support me personally to deliver some amazing leadership appointments and leaving Collingwood to join Boeing. Imagine that. Boeing wanting to recruit someone from little old Collingwood! There are quite a number of former colleagues who have gone on to develop great careers having had their foundation experience at Collingwood
4. Navigating Covid successfully. With no experience of how to navigate such a dramatic challenge, I am so proud of how we approached Covid as a team. We adjusted and actually thrived. We innovated our services, relaunched our marketing, made our infrastructure stronger, accelerated a learning culture and enjoyed the best revenue years of Collingwood’s history
5. Being on prime-time BBC! We were interviewed and used as part of a story of local businesses on North West Tonight with Tony Blair, the then Prime Minister

So, to everyone who’s been part of this journey — our incredible team, loyal clients, brilliant candidates, and supportive partners — thank you. This milestone belongs to all of us.

Here’s to the next chapter. 🥂