Pertemps was founded in 1961 by Constance Watts, with the full support of her husband and a £500 loan. Although Constance had no formal training and new little about recruitment, she had a focused determination to succeed.
Constance opened the first branch of Pertemps from a small office on Temple Street in Birmingham City Centre and turned over £50,000 in the first year of trading. The rest as they say is history with Tim Watts, Constance’s son eventually taking the reigns. Pertemps is now one of the largest independent recruitment consultancies in Britain, boasting over 100 branches in 70 towns and cities.
Fifty years on Pertemps marked their start of the golden anniversary with a party at the Ricoh Arena, with nearly 700 staff and partners in attendance. Guests were called through to the main suite and were introduced to the compare for the evening, Roy Walker (of catchphrase and more recently Radio One’s Carpark Catchphrase fame). Roy entertained guests with jokes and anecdotes before introducing lifetime President Tim Watts.
After champagne, a four course meal and awards ceremony, entertainment followed in the form of X-factor star Laura White and guests strutted their stuff to Mowtown classics performed by band, Brothers of Soul.
The end of last year saw the company named as best company to work for in the £100 million plus sector by industry publication Recruitment International.