After more than 20 years in the jobs industry, Prelude Executive Selection, a permanent and temporary employment agency, is one of the most established agencies in the Thames Valley. Prelude, in Queen Street, Maidenhead, was launched in 1983 by managing director Suzanne Weed, who has been in the recruitment business for 35 years. Suzanne puts the success of her agency down to growing with the area, having a strong knowledge of the locality and its businesses, people skills and trust.

Suzanne’s team comprises of recruitment manager Maddie Hayman and administrator Denise Skipsey and Annika Petersen. Thanks to its many years in the recruitment market place, Prelude has a strong presence in the town and also attracts clients and candidates from Slough, Reading, Bracknell, High Wycombe, Uxbridge, Bourne End and Windsor.

The agency’s diversity of placements is also thanks to its wealth of experience. HR recruitment is one of its strongest areas along with secretarial, marketing and administration recruitment. The consultants are well tuned into the running of many businesses both local and further afield. The range of businesses they deal with includes Pharmaceutical companies, the Ministry of Defence, and many FMCG and IT companies. “Once people have used you for some time it comes down to trust and at least 50 per cent of our business comes from recommendations,” says Suzanne.

“We run a very open service with no edge to it and we are known for our honesty and integrity,” she added. “We give as much consideration to the candidates as to the clients. We interview all candidates on a one-to-one, face-to-face basis. If you haven’t met the candidate – which many agencies do not – you can’t see them in their own light. We get to know their personalities as well as their qualifications and we do a lot of CV and interview preparations”.

Suzanne has invested time and money training her recruitment consultants. Prelude received an Investors in People award in 2005 and the company is a strong supporter of the Recruitment and Employment Federation “which is all about raising standards". She has witnessed big changes in the recruitment agency over the years. "We didn’t use CVs years ago. People wrote letters to apply for jobs or simply made a phone call. The whole recruitment industry has become increasingly sophisticated. There is far more training, we are more interview-aware and more professional". Information is more freely available thanks to the Internet and there is absolutely no excuse for a candidate not knowing anything about the company where they are applying for the job”.

Suzanne and Maddie pride themselves on launching many careers. “Sometimes we have first met candidates at the age of 18 and seen them go from strength to strength until they come back to us as clients which gives you a great buzz,” said Maddie.

HR recruitment, administration recruitment