Tony Goodwin: How diversification can save you from crisis

When the Berlin Wall fell, recruitment agent Tony Goodwin saw glittering money-making opportunities in Eastern Europe. And after years of building contacts, his recruitment firm Antal now operates well beyond the borders of Europe - but where will he go next?

When the Berlin Wall fell, recruitment agent Tony Goodwin, 49, sensed a business opportunity. "I thought that whole swathes of Europe would soon be opening up to capitalism and would create a massive jobs market." He spent the next two years "reading everything I could get my hands on". By 1991, he "knew as much as anyone living in London about the situation in eastern Europe". He also scoured newspapers for news of Western firms that were moving into eastern Europe. "When I spoke to the right people at these companies, I realised I was on to something." Over the next year, Goodwin worked for two other recruiters before setting up his eastern-European-focused recruitment agency Antal in 1993.

The first thing he needed was a client. Goodwin contacted the British Chambers of Commerce in each former Soviet Republic and compiled a database of all the UK firms in the region. This approach landed him a deal with Saatchi & Saatchi's Budapest office. The advertising agency was looking for a finance director, so Goodwin promptly set up a Budapest office and fulfilled the contract. More business followed as Western firms poured into the newly opened markets. "We were also helped by government schemes set up to transfer Western skills and know-how to eastern Europe." Within six months Goodwin had opened offices in Hungary, Poland and Russia.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.