Small Business of the Year - 2006 - WINNERS

17 November 2006

They say life begins at 40, and for birthday girl Wendy Coulter, the
gift couldn't have been a better surprise than when her firm WR
Consultancy was declared Small Business of the Year 2006.
Wendy set the business up in October 2002 with her fellow director
Jacqui Hall, and together they have 30 years' combined experience in
recruitment.

Based in the city centre, WR Consultancy is an independent commercial
and industrial catering and recruitment agency supplying temporary,
contract and permanent staff.

Despite the fierce competition within the recruitment industry this
company has been constantly expanding to cope with demand.

In February of this year, they established the new industrial and
catering division of the business and opened a new branch in St Neots.

They now service more than 300 companies and have in excess of 10,000
candidates. In January of this year, they came second place out of the
whole of Cambridgeshire for the Recruitment Agency of the Year Awards.

Ken Craig, partner of award sponsors Rawlinsons Chartered Accountants,
was delighted to welcome the winners on stage.

Afterwards, an ecstatic Wendy Coulter said: "It's absolutely phenomenal.
I have worked 20 years and it's the best thing ever to win this award.
It's my 40th birthday on Saturday and it's the best birthday present I
could have wished for. I am really pleased and have enjoyed every minute
of being here tonight."

Huntingdon Post

16th February 2006

Having already set up a thriving agency in Peterborough, WR Consultancy has extended its expertise and opened a new office in St Neots Market Square.

WR Consultancy is an independent commercial recruitment agency supplying premium temporary and permanent staff from office junior through to the highest levels of management.

Managing director, Wendy Coulter spent her early years growing up in the local area and since returning was astounded at the growth and development resulting in the opening of the new office.

Ms Coulter and commercial director, Jacqui Hall set up their first office in Peterborough in 2002 and have gone from strength to strength now employing 12 staff.

The new St Neots office is supported by a team of experienced consultants who live in the area. Sarah Bond said: "I have been working in London as a consultant but I am really excited about helping both clients and candidates here in my home town."

Ms Hall said: "We have made a real impact in Peterborough in helping candidates find the right jobs and clients the right candidate and we are very excited and passionate about doing the same in St Neots and the surrounding area." 

WR Consultancy has had a great start to the New Year and was voted second in the Best Recruitment Company category in the Cambridgeshire Recruitment Awards.

Already off to a flying start, Wendy Coulter has helped her candidate Susan Davies find the perfect job. Susan was made redundant after 11 years and was feeling anxious about searching for her next position.

Wendy immediately put Susan at ease and took time to find out what was important to her in her next role and within one week Susan is delighted to have secured her ideal job with Macmillan Publishing. Wendy said: "Having left what was a sleepy market town, I am thrilled to see how much it has progressed and developed, employment opportunities are phenomenal. I am extremely excited to be helping local candidates and clients find the solution in recruitment."

'Hot Off The Press' magazine

February 2006

On Friday 27^th January 2006 WR Consultancy enjoyed an evening at The Cambridgeshire Recruitment Awards held at the Marriot Hotel in Huntingdon. WR Consultancy is proud to announce that they were short listed as the Recruitment Company of the Year coming second in Cambridgeshire. The host for the evening was revered local broadcaster Stewart White, presenter of BBC Look East. The evening was voted an outstanding success in rewarding best practice within Human Resources and Recruitment.

Evening Telegraph

10th January 2006

Olympic heroes Sally Gunnell and John Regis helped mark the third anniversary of Peterborough recruitment agency WR Consultancy. The duo, who won gold and bronze medals respectively in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, gave a motivational presentation at the event organised by the successful city consultancy based in Wentworth Street. 

Managing Director Wendy Coulter and Commercial Director Jacqui Hall, who run the independent recruitment agency, wanted an opportunity to thank all their clients for their continued support in business. They invited around 80 clients to the champagne buffet at Wentworth House and also made an award of £500, plus champagne and flowers, to temporaries manager Leann Castleton for the prize of member of staff who had achieved the best performance over the last six months.

Managing Director Wendy was also presented with a cake to mark her birthday on the day of the business celebrations. Commercial Director Jacqui Hall said; "We wanted clients to help us celebrate our third year in business. Sally and John did a motivational team-building speech. It was an excellent event, really well supported with a good atmosphere."

Evening Telegraph

7th June 2005

Peterborough-based recruiters WR Consultancy has celebrated National Temporary Workers Week by rewarding its top Temporary of the Year. Kathleen Harrison was presented with champagne and flowers, and an additional £100 in her wage packet as part of her reward. Temporaries manager Leann Castleton said: "Kathleen has worked on various assignments for WR Consultancy since 2003, and we have always received excellent reviews and feedback from our clients. "Since Kathleen joined us she has never let us down in any way, and has always been extremely flexible and hardworking. "We have awarded Kathleen with Temp of the Year as we feel she deserves some recognition for all the hard work she puts in."

Evening Telegraph

24th January 2005

Fancy returning to work after a career break? Then there's no organisation better placed to help than the city centre-based WR Consultancy. Situated in Wentworth House, Wentworth Street, the organisations managing director is Wendy Coulter who previously owned Coulter Recruitment, in Church Street, Peterborough.

Wendy, who has 20 years' experience in matching people and careers said "We are looking for people for evening work, or to fulfil secretarial, admin, customer service, IT, even engineering roles." She explained that part-time positions may suit a husband who has swapped roles with his wife and stayed at home to look after a child and was now ready to return to work.

WR Consultancy can place candidates with companies within a 60-mile radius of Peterborough, and its clients range from blue-chip organisations to one-man firms. "Lots of companies come to us by word-of-mouth recommendations, and the same goes for candidates too," said Wendy. "We have found work for their friends and they, in turn, have recommended us."

Wendy said that her company recognised that people were often nervous about returning to work, and so one of her consultants would take time out to put them at ease. "We offer the personal touch. We will sit down with them and guide them and advise them on their CVs, even test their abilities." Sometimes, the best route to permanent work might be to take up a temporary position to gain confidence. "And even if we don't have a suitable job, we will be proactive and contact firms the match the right job with the right person," said Wendy.

Evening Telegraph

11th December 2003

A City commercial recruitment consultancy marked its first anniversary with a motivational talk by television presenter and former athlete Roger Black. WR Consultancy in Wentworth House, Wentworth Street, Peterborough, decided to hire Mr Black as part of its celebrations. More than 50 new and existing clients were invited along to the talk, complete with a champagne reception and canapes.

 WR Consultancy specialise in recruiting temporary and permanent positions in sales, marketing, IT, engineering, secretarial, administration and customer service staff in the commercial sector. Commercial director Jacqui Hall said: “We were celebrating our first year in business. It’s been a very successful first year for us and we wanted to give a big thank you to all the clients who have supported us. “Being an independent agency we promote a very honest and personal service. Each client is looked after by their own consultant who is dealing with their needs all the time.  “It was an honour to have Roger Black here to support and promote us. He gave an extremely motivational talk on team-building and the importance of being a team player. It was a fun event. It was really good and everyone enjoyed it.”