History

1991 Ellis Fairbank Formed
Ellis Fairbank was founded by Terry Ellis and Stephen Fairbank in 1991, initially sourcing sales and marketing executives across a variety of industry sectors.  Driven by a proactive, entrepreneurial spirit and an impetus to be the best in its field, by the end of the decade Ellis Fairbank had grown from an initial five consultants to over 100, swiftly establishing itself as a market leader in the provision of executives across disciplines and levels from junior executives right up to Senior Boardroom appointments.

1999 London Office Opened
Ellis Fairbank’s London office opened in 1999, initially to exclusively handle City appointments.  Following the trend set by the Leeds office, the London branch grew rapidly from three consultants to over 25 within five years.  The London branch now mirrors many of the Leeds functions, displaying a specialised knowledge of candidate and client markets in the South of England.  Moving to new premises in Mayfair at the end of 2004, the London branch is expected to double in size by 2007.

2001 Management Buyout
Ellis Fairbank was bought out by its senior management team in July 2001.  The buyout was led by current Managing Director Jason Martin, with the involvement of Abe Avdiyovski and Mike Thomson, both now directors of the company.  The investment was backed by the Leeds office of Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC), the leading venture capital provider to the mid-market.

At the time, John Swarbrick, Director of the Leeds office of LDC, commented: “Ellis Fairbank's proactive approach to the marketplace combined with its diverse sector focus gives the company the ability to outperform the market. In particular, the business has seen strong growth in FMCG, Retail and Construction and has produced record sales levels over the last three years. Furthermore we are delighted to be backing an impressive management team that can undoubtedly deliver results.”

The investment and guidance that LDC provides enables us to continue to strengthen our position in the market, generating organic growth and focusing on specialised industry sectors.

2001 Ellis Fairbank Joins the International Search Group (ISG)
Our membership of the International Search Group has enabled us to extend our business across the majority of the world.  The ISG is a global, multi-discipline network of market-leading recruiters across 29 countries within the commercial, industrial and financial marketplaces.  Each member has a well-established reputation in its own country and has been selected for outstanding accomplishments in national and international projects.
The Group works together to solve international client requirements with access not to only local talent pools, but also shared knowledge of local market dynamics and legislation.

2002 Ellis Fairbank Invests in Client Services Proposition
In 2002, Ellis Fairbank decided to expand its services portfolio to include the provision of an extensive range of business consultancy and strategic growth services.  With the fundamental principle of developing a scientific recruitment process that increases the return on investment to our Clients, the client services division has grown from strength to strength.  The division now employs Occupational Psychologists, Human Resource Consultants and research specialists.

2002 Edinburgh Office Opened
Ellis Fairbank’s Edinburgh office was opened in 2002 to meet the needs of candidates and clients in Scotland.  Although relatively small at present, it is planned to expand our Edinburgh operation to 20-30 consultants in the medium to long term.

2004 Ellis Fairbank Gains ISO 9001 Accreditation
At Ellis Fairbank we have always prided ourselves on the quality of the service we provide and the way in which we do business. We were immensely proud when upon our first application, after a lengthy auditing of all our business processes, we were awarded ISO 9001 accreditation.  This management system further facilitates our principles of and commitment to customer satisfaction and continual improvement.

2004 Vertical markets launched
Vertical marketing allows us to offer the benefits of Ellis Fairbank’s values, size, range of services and reach in a way that is bespoke to individual markets.  Each of our consultants is now specifically trained for the market in which they operate, giving us the benefits of specialist niche recruiters with the resources of an overall market leader.

2005 Manchester Office Opened
Ellis Fairbank's Manchester office opened in April 2005 as part of our strategy to steadily broaden our reach across multiple regions within the UK. Marking the beginning of an intense growth strategy across the UK, the Manchester office currently employs 10 consultants across multiple sectors including FMCG, Retail, IT, Construction and Finance.

2006 Strasbourg Office Opened
Following the launch of our International Division in 2001, Ellis Fairbank opened their first mainland European Office in July 2006. This forms part of our ongoing expansion strategy and marks the exceptional success that our International Division has achieved to date, with year on year growth reaching 143% in 2005. Having firmly established ourselves as a reputable and well-known international executive search and selection business, this office will act as a gateway to our European client base and enable us to further increase our expertise and knowledge on a global scale.

2007 Ellis Fairbank Secures Acquisition of EM Group
Completed in March, the acquisition of EM Group saw Ellis Fairbank further strengthen its position through the purchase of one of the UK's most well respected financial recruitment specialists.  As Ellis Fairbank's first acquisition of many, EM Group gives immediate access to fast growing financial markets and provides perfect synergy with our existing client base and already highly profitable financial interims practice.  It allows us to complement and extend our existing offering to clients whilst opening up opportunities to develop new markets for both companies.

Meet the Directors

Jason Martin	Harry Cross