IT is hard to think of many careers that a degree in European civilisation naturally lead to. But the study of people looks to have been the ideal preparation for Jamie Livingston, co-founder of recruitment firm Livingston James.

The firm he set up with sector veteran Andy Rogerson in 2010 has enjoyed steady growth since its formation in the aftermath of recession, having opened its first offices south of the Border last year and put itself on track for a further significant uplift in turnover in 2018.

“[It was] good for studying people, and interesting,” said Mr Livingston as he reflected on his studies in the clubby surroundings of Livingston James’ office on Glasgow’s St Vincent Street. “It allowed me to read about things which I enjoy.

“But I guess when I went to university I had no idea what I wanted to do. At that stage playing rugby was my key focus and everything else was pretty secondary. It was only in my last year of university when I started to try and unpick what I thought I was good at.”

Mr Livingston’s decision to pursue a career in recruitment stemmed ultimately from that period of self-assessment, which led him to conclude that his strengths could lie in business development, sales and “matching people”.

And from that point he wasted little time, joining Hays straight from university before, just 18 months later, he was headhunted by Michael Page, the UK recruitment agency.

It was in the early to mid-2000s and, as Mr Livingston now admits, he did not appreciate at the time just how good a period it was economically, certainly compared with how things are now.

His ascent at Michael Page was rapid, and quickly he moved up to manage the Glasgow office before being invited to launch a start-up within the group in Dublin – just weeks after his wedding.

“Not that I knew it at the time, but it was kind of a dry run for what we have done subsequently [at Livingston James], and a huge learning curve,” he said. “Six weeks after we got married we arrived in Dublin, I didn’t know a soul [and all I had was a] phone and a phone book.

“That was great experience.”

As the 2000s wore in the economic outlook worsened. It was also a period of change in his own life too, with family commitments leading Mr Livingston to seek a return to Scotland. He took on a restructuring role with Michael Page back in Glasgow but staying with the firm was not going to be a long-term prospect, chiefly because it would have meant relocating to London.

Despite the economic flux of the time, it was around this time that the idea of venturing out on his own began to crystallise.

“There was no-one else I wanted to work for,” he recalls. “The bigger companies have all got satellite offices with no strategic control sitting up here. There weren’t any of the domestic companies I particularly felt a synergy with to join. You then kind of think: what are the options that are left?”

As he explored the possibility of setting up his own firm, he received some valuable advice from Craig Paterson, who had owned the recruitment agency Melville Craig. Not only did Mr Paterson help him “pluck up” his confidence, he also introduced him to his eventual business partner, Mr Rogerson, who had worked for Melville Craig and been chief executive of Hudson in the UK and Middle East.

“Our business plans looked identical,” Mr Livingston said. “We realised we could either set up and be in direct competition, or there might be an opportunity to do something better and quicker together, which is what we ended up doing.”

While it sounded straightforward on paper, the move was not made without some soul-searching, with the more risk-averse among family and friends suggesting that, with the economy fragile and a young child to look after, the time might not be right. They also reminded him that he had a very good job as the director of a plc. Others in his inner circle were extremely enthusiastic.

“I’m not sure I was getting any sensible, unbiased view,” he laughs. “Looking back, it was all really quite surreal in terms of how things came to pass. I think the experience of going into a country [and] a city where we knew nobody [helped, though] and the economy in Dublin was good.

“Weirdly, some of that felt scarier. I knew a reasonable number of people in Scotland and I suppose some of the business process and leadership development stuff – I felt those boxes had been reasonably well-ticked when we were in Dublin.

“The strangest period was the negotiation of what’s off limits and my gardening leave [from Michael Page and all that sort if stuff. There was a weird period of limbo.

“So, when it came to actually getting started it felt exciting – and scary.”

The firm was set up in 2010, with the simultaneous launch of “satellite” offices in Glasgow, led by Mr Livingston, and Edinburgh, headed by Mr Rogerson.

And one of their key missions since the start has been to sell their business on the experience of the client in working with Livingston James, not simply its ability to find candidates to fill positions.

Particular effort was made early on to target the financial and professional services sectors, which paid off.

“We were very fortunate that that community as a whole seemed to embrace our story and helped get us networked and plugged into the property opportunity,” Mr Livingston said.

“We always felt that if we got the chance to pitch we had quite a compelling proposition.”

By the time the company has been trading for two-and-a-half years, the decision was taken to establish different trading names for each of the sectors they focus on. As Mr Livingston reflected, this was because clients themselves were putting Livingston James into different “buckets”, depending on what they used it for. Some viewed it as a company for board and executive roles, others would turn to the firm for supply chain positions.

“Really what you need to add value to your clients is influence for those communities,” Mr Livingston said. “The more specialist the brand, the more likely you are to be able to engage and influence that population.”

Within Livingston James there are now six individual brands. The first it created was Rutherford Cross, which is focused on accountancy, then Edison Bond (sales, marketing and recruitment) and Hamilton Forth (technology and change), with other brands covering disciplines such as procurement and supply chain jobs.

Each name nods subtly to the history of the sector they operate within. For example, Hamilton is inspired by Margaret Hamilton, a software engineer who worked on the Apollo moon landing. “[It’s been] harder than naming children,” quipped Mr Livingston, “particularly the bigger we got and the more people had an opinion on it!”

So far, the model would appear to be working well. The firm, whose clients include SSE, Heineken and CYBG, is on track to turn over £9 million this year, having reported revenue of nearly £6.9m in 2017, and has moved into the market south of the Border with the opening of offices in Manchester and Guildford, near London, last year. And he refused to rule out further expansion, highlighting a move into the Dublin market among the possibilities.

“The market in Scotland is actually quite good,” Mr Livingston said. “I think we have become quite resilient to the threat of change. Whereas in the build-up to the Scottish independence referendum we saw [a] slowdown in sentiment and people really stopping, the Brexit referendum had less business impact.

“Even though the result clearly wasn’t necessarily what those in business thought it was going to be in Scotland, it hasn’t stopped people from trading. There is a sort of pragmatism in the local market.”

Six Questions

What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why?

For business, setting up an office in Ireland was great fun and an invaluable learning experience early in my career. Learning how to leverage cultural similarities to build rapport whilst understanding and respecting the differences was a very useful lesson. With regards leisure, travelling to France wins hands down. Two reasons: cheese & wine.

When you were a child, what was your ideal job? Why did it appeal?

I wasn’t particularly career minded until my last term at university. That said, as a teenager I did have delusions of grandeur of being a professional rugby player. Like a number of fans of my age, watching David Sole lead out his team to win the grand slam at Murrayfield in 1990 meant that I couldn’t see past playing rugby for Scotland.

What was your biggest break in business?

Agreeing to disagree with my PLC employer in 2009 led to the fast track setting up of what is now Livingston James Group.

What was your worst moment in business?

In my experience, even the most difficult situations can lead to positive ends if you adopt the right mindset. In the early days of Livingston James we significantly expanded our space in one location. As the ink was drying on the deal, sales fell off a cliff but that office is now our biggest profit centre.

Who do you most admire and why?

My business partner Andy Rogerson. He is amazing at all the things I am bad at!

What book are you reading and what music are you listening to? What was the last film you saw?

I actually have three books on the go at the moment: The Bible, ‘A World of Three Zeros’ by Mohammad Yunus, and ‘A Legacy of Spies’ by John Le Carre. Matt Redmond, Tricia Fox and George Ezra are regulars on my Spotify list and I recently watched Jurassic World with the kids.