In his time, Jonathan Wright wasn't a bad racing driver. He won three or four races, held a couple of pole positions and even set a track record at Silverstone. "But I took the view that you either needed outstanding talent, like Ayrton Senna, or you needed good talent... but with financial support around you." With neither behind him, in 1982 he decided to leave and pursue a business career instead. A tough decision, he says, but at least it was a conscious one. "I didn't just let my life dwindle away." Twenty years later, as head of a £28m-a-year Aim-listed recruitment firm, it certainly hasn't.
Wright took to recruitment quickly. By 1993, he'd worked his way up to become managing director of Alexander Mann, an executive search company run by James Caan of Dragons' Den fame. "But after ten and a bit years, enough was enough. James had made a lot of money. When you sit there as the number two you think 'I contributed as much to his success, in fact more than I was given credit for'. Every number two thinks that. You think 'I have to stick my neck on the line, become number one and prove I'm just as capable'. And that male ego got the better of me."
So in 2003, Wright left Alexander Mann. He'd noticed there was a real need for recruiters to track down business leaders at boardroom level. "Everywhere else the fee structure had been depressed by the client. But at the top, it had pretty much stayed the same. To me that meant I could take top dollar to get the best people." Aiming to build the business quickly, he convinced Dr Swee Lip Quek, the owner of another specialist recruiter, to invest £400,000 in his idea to buy and develop specialist recruiters at the top end of the market. The recruitment firms would maintain their own brands and management teams. In turn, Hexagon would get a 70% stake in the joint venture. Wright himself put up nearly £100,000, securing extra funding through a bank loan.
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"My wife was very nervous", given the financial risks involved. But by the beginning of 2005 Wright had already bought his first business, Oxygen. He'd heard the founder was getting ready to step back, so asked what his plans were. "He said 'I'll probably run this for the following three years and retire'." Wright told him: "'That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If you try to sell it when you're going to retire, no one is going to back you. What you need to do is sell it now progressively, so that you can plan your retirement'. So we did that over four years."
The total cost of the firm eventually came to £2.5m. Oxygen has since recruited England rugby star Rob Andrew to the Rugby Football Union, while Hexagon has continued to snap up new firms since listing on Aim in 2007. Turnover tripled to £28m in the year to March 2008, with a "very strong" quarter expected from the next set of results. It's good going, especially in today's marketplace. "But we read the papers and watch the TV just like anyone else. So we're unsure of what might be coming around the corner." Spoken like a true racing driver.
