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Centred Excellence
Performance development, recruitment training and coaching for recruitment business owners, managers and independent recruiters.
Success Stories
Simon & Emma Ditched the 360 Model and Increased Revenue by 22% (With a Leaner Team)
- Replaced the 360 model - aligning roles to individual strengths
- Stepped into high-value leadership roles, freeing up time to focus
Simon and Emma Robinson
Founders, Red Diamond Executive Headhunters
The Situation
Simon and Emma Robinson are the founders of Red Diamond Executive Headhunters, a boutique search firm based in Huddersfield, UK. With over 14 years in business, they specialise in placing C-suite leaders across industrial sectors including aviation, construction, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals.
They had a solid client base and strong credentials; however, growth had stagnated. Revenue had plateaued, the team was stretched across too many functions, and the business was caught in a cycle of peaks and troughs.
“You win the roles, then fill them, and while you’re filling them, business development drops. Then you start again,” explained Simon.
Even with decades of combined experience, they started to question whether the traditional 360 recruitment model – long seen as the default – was actually holding them back.
“We were working volume over quality,” said Emma. “One person doing four hundred jobs, and three hundred and fifty of those done mediocre.”
It was Emma who came across Centred Excellence. After exploring the ROCKIT programme and recognising the need for a smarter, more scalable way of working, they decided it was time to make a change. “We wanted to move to that next level – with a sustainable growth plan.”
The Outcome Simon & Emma Wanted:
- Uplevel their business model to a smarter, more scalable structure that played to individual team strengths.
- Build a consistent, predictable pipeline by eliminating the peaks and troughs caused by ad-hoc business development.
- Increase revenue without increasing headcount - achieving growth through clarity, focus, and operational efficiency.
- Gain strategic clarity and full visibility on the numbers, enabling confident forecasting of revenue, placements, and hiring needs.
- Re-energise the team and reduce staff turnover by hiring and positioning people in roles where they could thrive.
- Reduce stress and improve life balance while building a business that could run more independently of them.
- Position Red Diamond as the go-to executive search partner in their specialist sectors - with a sustainable, system-led growth model and the right people in the right roles.
With these goals in mind, Simon and Emma joined the ROCKIT programme – ready to scale Red Diamond with clarity, confidence, and a smarter way of working.
Final Words From Simon & Emma About ROCKIT and Their Learnings
“I always knew I needed a system, but I never knew how to build it. Only with Centred Excellence, with the team’s help, with my coach, were we finally able to put the system in place. Finally!
Trust the system. If you follow it step by step, systematically, you will definitely improve your business. You will start to see things change for the better.”
Listen to what Simon & Emma had to say:
Implementation and Results
Simon and Emma overhauled their business model, ditching the outdated 360 approach and implementing a smarter, scalable structure that delivered results within months:
- Replaced the 360 model with distinct functions: business development, delivery, admin/marketing, and offshore lead generation - aligning roles to individual strengths.
- Simon & Emma stepped into high-value leadership roles - freeing up time to focus on strategy, client growth, and team performance.
- Hired virtual teams in India and the Philippines to handle outreach and admin - freeing up internal resource and enabling the business to operate around the clock.
- Used the “Business X-Ray” process to deep-dive into placement data - gaining full visibility on revenue, client types, and job profitability.
- Achieved 22.5% revenue growth within months, while reducing headcount and operational costs.
- Re-energised the team by placing people in the right roles, exiting those not aligned, and shifting hiring to focus on customer service, sales, and industry expertise - not just recruiters.
- Reduced stress and regained confidence - freeing up time, energy, and headspace to lead with purpose and scale strategically with clarity.
Final Words From Dawn About Working With Centred Excellence
“Nicky and Katy have helped me in so many ways. Handling my mindset has been hard for me alongside some of the issues that we’d had at the beginning of the year.
Then, becoming unwell myself, it was challenging to drag myself in and have that positive mindset. I had to have it. I had to keep going. I had a purpose and a belief that was in the pit of my stomach that no matter what, I’ve got to keep going and I did and look at the results.
My final words of advice is; follow the process and just do it. And that’s what it comes down to, do it. The programme Nicky and Katy run gives you the blueprint; it’s the map.
When we first spoke Nicky used the example of the pilot taking 500 excited people to Disney World and that most of the time on route they are off course.
However, they still have a map for where they’re going, because they’ve got 500 passengers on there that want to get to Disney World.
You give us that map. You give us that blueprint to do it. And it’s down to us, yes we might deviate off course, that’s fine, but if you follow that map and you follow the blueprint, you will get to Disney World; and I have to say it is magical when you get there.”
Dawn Turbitt MD of KSB Recruitment
Listen to what Dawn has to say:
Implementation and Results
Dawn set a new vision for the company with Katy and Nicky’s help.
With a new lease of energy and belief in hereself and the team, Dawn started to direct, coach and lead the consultants to success.
Dawn set a stretch goal of £750,000 in turnover in 12 months; bearing in mind in Feb 2018 her turnover was £16,805.
Dawn started by rigorously implementing a 90-day plan following Nicky’s structure. This included setting revenue goals, analysing how many placements they would need and how many interviews would have to take place.
KPI’s were set, and the consultants followed an accountability process; including Dawn, who shared her results on the whiteboard too; the team were buzzing.
Dawn actioned Nicky and Katy’s Gold and Silver job process with her team and removed 50% of the current unprofitable jobs they were working off the board.
The consultants started ‘specking out’ candidates using the Centredexcellence MPC strategy.
Dawn instigated a performance management process across the team resulting in the non performers leaving. This left Dawn and a small focussed team. There are two perm consultants, two temp, Dawn and a part-time secretary.
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