The last three years haven’t been easy for Wellington trade recruitment firm, Key Skills, but the business is doing just fine, and it’s largely because it doesn’t serve just one industry.

As well as construction labour, the company provides the capital’s clients with an engineering, manufacturing and logistics workforce, a variety of sectors which keeps the business on an even keel. Last year, the firm was busy with food manufacturing, this year they’re busier in construction.

A good range of sectors and clients

After 17 years in business, starting in early 2007, Atkins and co-founder, Beccy Lane, have adapted to the economic environment around them. The two experienced recruiters switched to supply temps and labour hire in 2008 when the GFC really hit and again in the current market, the agency is focusing on temp workers because that’s what employers want.

“It’s important to have lots of eggs in lots of baskets,”says co-founder Ailsa Atkins. It’s also about offering temp or permanent workers.

Setting yourself up for prompt invoice payments and good cash flow

The commercial construction industry is a sector which can often have a queue of creditors awaiting payment in tougher times.

“It gets to be a long chain and it just takes one to fall over and a lot of people get hurt,” says Atkins.

The business owners take a proactive approach to managing cash flow and select their clients wisely to safeguard their financial stability and cash flow.

“Over the years, we’ve honed our ability to identify red flags and potential warning signs which may indicate whether a client is likely to pay on time,” says Lane.

“By focusing on building relationships with reliable clients, we mitigate the risk of non-payers, which can really impact our cash flow and overall business health.”

The agency has an in-house finance person but if it gets to a month with no payment, the two business partners will get involved, calling clients and asking why.

The business partners are always careful about having liquidity in the business. “We don’t strip the business of funds, we leave them in there so we have cash flow and we manage the finances closely.” says Atkins.

Investing in the business too

At the same time, the directors aren’t afraid to spend money when necessary. They’re planning to invest in PR support to raise their profile in the recruitment industry.

"There are so many agencies out there with varying degrees of reputation. We want to make sure that people know we’ve been around for a long time and we have the expertise to offer value to our employers,” says Atkins.

"We make sure our workers are looked after, we get them training and apprenticeships, and that helps a huge amount with referrals which are consistently good.”

With a staff of 10, the business partners say there’s very little staff churn in their team.

To learn more about Key Skills Recruitment, go to https://www.keyskills.co.nz.

Where do I find startup funding in NZ?

Am I missing something?

Physical vs Digital

How Key Skills is riding the wave of sector ups and downs