A strategic partnership built to take tact. from founder-led momentum to a scalable, contract-fuelled, US-ready recruitment business. The next twelve months: cleaner operations, stronger leverage, a contract engine quietly compounding, and a clear runway into the US. That is the work.
Most advisors talk about scaling recruitment businesses. Very few have actually built, scaled, and exited one.
Built from the desk up. Twenty years across sales, operations, leadership and commercial strategy, with a specialism in scaling contract functions and launching US divisions from zero.
James has personally launched, restructured and scaled US offices, navigated the cultural and commercial shift from perm to contract, and developed multiple £1m+ billers in the process.
His approach blends accountability through agreed objectives, honest conversations, and an obsession to win. As a Master NLP Practitioner, he brings a behavioural edge to leadership coaching, helping founders and their teams shift mindset, raise standards and unlock performance that compounds over time.
Founders describe the partnership the same way: sharper thinking, faster decisions, fewer things keeping them up at night, and a business that finally feels built to scale, not just survive.
“My job is not to give you a deck. It is to sit on your side of the table, make the next twelve months sharper than the last five, and leave the business in a place where you have real optionality.”
The engagement draws on a standing network of operators that EQ Group works with day to day. When tact. needs US counsel, immigration cover, outbound infrastructure or a billing partner who has already done it, the bench is in the room, not a referral away.
Engagements draw on the bench as needed, at no additional retainer. You get the operator in the room, and the people behind the operator when the moment calls for them.
The next move is the one that quietly changes everything: turning tact. into a business that scales without you holding it together, generates recurring contract revenue, and earns serious attention when the time comes to exit, scale or step back.
Build a scalable contract function delivering predictable recurring revenue, stronger client retention and an improved valuation profile.
A practical, commercially viable US growth strategy: market entry, hiring structure, operational rollout, and risk mitigation.
Stronger foundations: MI/BI visibility, leadership structure, hiring strategy, systems, performance management and forecasting.
Close your eyes for a second. Imagine opening the laptop on a Monday and seeing a calmer, sharper, more valuable version of tact. running underneath you. This is the shift.
Revenue tied to the founder.
A leadership-led delivery engine you can step back from without it wobbling.
Permanent-only, lumpy income.
A contract base quietly compounding every month, even when perm slows.
US is a question mark.
A live, tested US division with a hiring playbook and the first revenue on the board.
Create a scalable contract function generating recurring high-margin revenue.
A commercially viable and operationally sustainable US expansion plan.
Visibility, accountability and scalability across the business.
Drive tact.'s leadership growth as the business scales beyond founder-led delivery.
The initial phase identifies the highest-leverage operational and commercial opportunities inside the business, and turns them into execution.
For many recruitment businesses, contract becomes the engine that creates recurring revenue, improves predictability, and strengthens long-term business value.
The focus is not simply launching a contract desk; it is building the operational and commercial infrastructure required for it to scale.
US expansion creates significant opportunity, and significant operational complexity. The objective is to approach growth strategically, ensuring the right foundations exist before scaling aggressively.
Founder-led to leadership-led transition with operational consistency and commercial infrastructure.
Market entry execution, hiring structure, expansion planning and scaling implementation.
Contract capability buildout, margin improvement and revenue diversification.
Not generic consulting. The difference between running a recruitment business and owning one that runs itself well enough to sell, scale, or step back from on your terms.
“You did not start this to spend the next five years inside the machine. The work is making sure you do not have to.”
An operator embedded inside the business, on your side of the table, who has already built, scaled and exited the version of tact. you are growing into. Twelve months of sharper decisions, faster execution and compounding value.
Imagine the version of tact. that exists twelve months from now: contract revenue compounding, a US office live, leadership running the day-to-day, and you working on the business instead of inside it. That version is the one we build together, starting with one conversation.