L-R: Louise and Lucy
Two best friends from Northampton are celebrating a successful two years in business.
Lucy Wright and Louise Keightley could never have predicted when they met as 10-year-old girls at St Peters Independent School that more than 30 years later they would go into business together.
Fast forward to 2022 and, after a weekend away, Lucy and Louise decided to bring together their experiences in the world of HR and recruitment to create Four Talent, a boutique recruitment consultancy that supports small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
Now, as they approach their second business anniversary, there are no regrets.
Four Talent has surpassed the duo’s wildest dreams, smashing financial targets and achieving 78% profit in its first year.
Lucy and Louise have also moved into new offices on Boothville in Northampton and plan to recruit their first employee in 2024.
Louise said: “Over the years Lucy has often said we should start a business together, but I was resistant to the idea as I wouldn’t want anything to affect our friendship. After a while, there was just no avoiding the fact that it just made complete sense! It was pure coincidence that we went on from school to pursue similar careers and often spoke to each other about work in a social setting. Add to that, we have the same moral compass and work ethic towards how we conduct ourselves professionally and treat our customers. We are ‘people people’ and pride ourselves on being open and transparent with each other and our clients.
“We also bring different skills and qualities to the business which complement each other, plus we have a lot of fun so it doesn’t really feel like work! I’m so glad we took the leap of faith.”
Louise is a single mother to two boys, aged seven and five, and wanted to create a sustainable business that gave her a good income and enabled her to be around for her children. Lucy is also a mum to two children, aged eight and six, and craved flexibility.
Lucy and Louise worked out of Lucy’s home for the first 18 months, working with a wide range of clients to find them suitable candidates for roles in a variety of business areas including financial services, sales and marketing, retail and HR.
Louise said: “We invested £200 each into setting up the business and have worked exceptionally hard, working long hours to ensure we have always delivered on what has been promised to our clients – something that has resulted in 100% client retention and business growth through word of mouth and referrals.”
Now the duo have plans to grow the business further in 2024.
Lucy said: “With so much achieved in 2023, including moving into our first office premises, 2024 is focussed on business growth – we have fantastic loyal clients who won’t go anywhere else for their recruitment needs, so we are keen to grow more relationships like this across Northamptonshire and help more businesses. We are also keen to grow our team and by the end of 2024 we plan to have fully onboarded a new recruiter.”
For more information on Four Talent, visit fourtalent.co.uk.
