How Emma Howarth placed Langton Howarth on the global stage

Langton Howarth, which has recently moved from Leeds city centre to offices on Hornbeam Park, in Harrogate, is gearing up for further growth as it plays a bigger role on the global stage. The company specialises in medical device, clinical diagnostics, laboratory and scientific supplies recruitment, and also offers a specialist service for the consumer health and beauty sector,

"We have, over time, grown from being a purely UK-centric business to a global one,’’ said Ms Howarth. “Covid propelled the life sciences sector to centre stage during a global crisis. Vaccine manufacturing and drug discovery became household topics overnight. The success of Langton Howarth is in part due to our ability to attract the right staff, train them and look after their mental health and wellbeing. During Covid, the life science firms had the spotlight shone on them and they became household names.”

She is particularly keen to ensure her staff retain a healthy balance in their working lives.

"We have a clear dividing line between work and home life,’’ Ms Howarth said.

"We have had people join us who worked for other recruitment companies who said they had previously worked in an environment where these lines had become blurred. Working and living at home doesn’t work for everyone, especially sociable beings like recruiters.”

Langton Howarth operates from an office environment with flexible start and finishing times.

"Collaboration and teamwork are keys to our success,’’ she said. “You can go home at the end of the day, with no interruptions and disruptions to your home life. Your personal time is exactly that; your own.

"We have a lot of fun along the way. It’s a very sociable environment and we have beautiful offices that people love to work in.

"Since the pandemic, there has been a real migration of talent from cities like London to Yorkshire,’’ she added. “We can tap into that expanded talent pool locally. We have great travel connectivity being based at Hornbeam Park and can attract people from Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wetherby and surrounds. The business park has a real community feel to it and due to the amenities on site we can really look after people’s wellbeing.”

Globally, the digitisation of the recruitment process has also been a catalyst for growth. In the past, the company might, for example have had a client in London or Munich who expected to see the candidate face to face.

"The time it takes to fill jobs has been reduced dramatically due to the popularity of Zoom, Teams and other digital means of holding meetings,’’ she said. “It has also reduced the recruitment sector's carbon footprint

"Before Covid, the interview process could involve multiple face to face interviews in different countries with different stakeholders. Covid changed all this.

"The candidate doesn't need to fly around the world. Interviews are now held via Teams or Zoom. The world of recruitment has never been more competitive or faster paced.

"As a direct result of reducing the time to fill jobs, and not having to see candidates face to face, clients need to move at pace if they want to hire the best talent.”

"On average, each recruitment consultant in Yorkshire will only spend around 13 months with each company. This doesn’t help the clients. As a specialist recruiter you simply can’t build a strong enough contact network in such a short space of time. You need the longevity to build a ‘go to’ contact network. That’s where Langton Howarth really comes into its own. We’ve been going for 17 years and have an unrivalled contact network. Our focus is on nurturing and retaining talent. It also means the client doesn't need to keep briefing different people; time and time again.

"You can't get away from the importance of personal relationships. In recruitment, you need to be a great listener and have plenty of empathy. You have to act with integrity and be passionate about the industry you serve.”

She also believes asylum seekers who have relevant qualifications and industry experience can make a positive contribution to Britain’s economy.

"We had a highly educated life scientist who had completed a UK PHD in a niche area of life science,’’ she recalled.

"However, after completing her PHD, her asylum status still had no end date for processing, which meant she was not able to be employed here. This is despite the fact there was a need for someone with her life science education expertise due to a skills shortage in the UK.

"There are asylum seekers who could contribute to UK life science research, our economy and society. However, because her application wasn’t processed in time, she wasn’t able to take up the job offer and be employed by our client.”

Although levelling up has taken a blow with the announcement that sections of HS2 are going to be scrapped, she believes there has been a form of levelling up in terms of salary; the fact significant numbers of people were working from home during the pandemic gave people the chance to compare salaries.

"People moved north because they realised their salary could stretch further in the north; they didn't need to be based in the south to have a great career. It's a true work family at Langton Howarth and as we grow we are keen to work with local companies and suppliers"