Glasgow recruitment technology firm grows fast amid pandemic

What is your business called?

Willo.

Where is it based?

We are a remote-first company with team members in Glasgow, Manchester, Kiev, Athens and London.

What does it produce, what services does it offer?

By using our platform, employers are able to conduct flexible virtual video interviews to hire amazing people at scale.

To whom does it sell?

Primarily high-growth businesses in the UK, US and Australia. The majority of our customers operate in the hospitality, healthcare or environmental sectors. Our clients include Chick-fil-A, Samsung, University of Pennsylvania and ABM.

What is its turnover?

Around £2 million.

How many employees?

17.

When was it formed?

2018.

Why did you take the plunge?

I wanted to build something that removed friction from the hiring process, making it more enjoyable and less stressful for both candidates and employers. Given my belief in the concept, it was easy to take the plunge - I’ve always had a desire to fix problems when I see them, and to challenge the way things are done. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur - as a teenager, I started fifteen different companies, although I wasn’t mature enough at that stage to see them through as I’ve done with Willo!

The way businesses hire staff was changing before Covid; we were moving towards a world where talent was the only currency that matters and as a result, borders were becoming irrelevant. It was the perfect time.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I ran my own digital marketing agency for three years. We had clients across the UK and US including Pip and Nut, Tens and Karen Mabon. Prior to that I was an Operation Director for CarMoney, which is part of Peter Vardy. Working for a big company and then building my own business gave me so many opportunities to acquire the skills I needed to scale Willo.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

I was completely naïve about the process when I started. We initially raised money from our existing board members. They then introduced us to a Venture Capital investor based in Guernsey called 1818, who became the majority funder in our pre-seed and seed rounds. During our seed round, we welcomed a number of new investors including ex Freeserve PLC chief operating officer Mark Danby, ex BT talent chief Susan McRoberts, and entrepreneur and Santander Global Head of Digital Mobility Solutions Jose Ignacio Puente - these links all came from always looking to meet new, interesting people without any agenda. You never know what will happen as relationships develop. We’ve now raised more than £1m in investment and will look to begin our next round in March.

What was your biggest break?

After trading for only a few months, we received a call from a huge company who wanted to sign up to Willo for three years. They’re still one of our biggest clients.

What was your worst moment?

Every single time a customer leaves it hurts - it never gets any easier. We work really hard to acquire customers and spend a lot of time onboarding them. While it’s difficult, it’s a learning opportunity.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

When I hear feedback from candidates. We think our platform is helping people feel confident and empowered during their search, and it’s helping great people find great jobs.

What do you least enjoy?

When we find any bugs or issues with the platform - I just want everything to be perfect and it’s a stress to try and fix it as quickly as possible. It also doesn’t feel good when we don’t make a sale, but you can’t win everything. Every failure is a lesson and we use it as an opportunity for growth.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

We want to end the CV, and in doing so become the number one way people apply for jobs around the world. Our 2030 plan targets project revenues of more than £70m.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

Greater access to public tenders and local government departments! The procurement process is far too time consuming for a business of our size and they always ask about previous public tender experience.

A true public tender would be easy for everyone to complete and be judged entirely on merit. It’s not viable for us to spend days filling out forms that might go nowhere.

We’ve done tenders for the US, Scottish and Irish governments and they’re all the same. But that’s why Government moves so slowly. If start-ups were given more opportunities, it could change everything.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

With many traditional sales and marketing methods shut down during Covid, we were forced to be incredibly dynamic in our approach. In doing so, we achieved our biggest growth during the pandemic.

How do you relax?

I love spending time with my partner and daughter more than anything, but being alone helps me re-energise and process my own thoughts.