I set up Hoop in August 2016 with my cofounding director Paul. We had one goal in mind, create a customer focused recruitment agency that would treat clients and candidates fairly and treat employees as people, not a number.

The brand name came from a simple concept, we needed something short, to the point and simple for candidates and clients to remember. We could not afford to over complicate the name and risk missing out on business, especially in the early days. From this concept Hoop was born. Who could get ‘Hoop’ wrong? Simple to say, easy to spell. One thing we did not factor in, our Valleys accents. Hoop quickly became, ‘Huw from Coop’ and ‘Paul from Hope’. By this point, it was too late, the brand was launched, ‘Coop’ & ‘Hope’ ended up being conversation starters, rather than the hinderance we initially thought it might be.

We started with what we knew, the Social Care market. Within 6 months we made our first 2 hirers, Scott joined to continue with the Social Care market and Rhian opened our 2^nd division, Nursing. By the time our first year was coming to an end we made our 5^th hire, to support our Social Care offering. An eventful first 12 months, launched a new brand, 5 employees and started to venture into the Nursing market.

Year 2, Nursing was taking off and we quickly invested in the team, 2 new recruits in the first 2 months of the year. Our little office was getting full, we had space for 8, at a push. Social Care was getting busier, another recruit was appointed and lined up to start in Jan 18. Then a CV came in, a teacher with a background in recruitment looking for a new challenge. Ryan joined the team and launched our Education division. That made 9 people, 8 seats. Paul was sent to the attic and the new office search was on.

Year 3 was a long time coming; recruitment was on pause until we had the space to fit people in. The new office was lined up to open in October and the next 3 recruits were ready and waiting to start. With 15 years in recruitment Emily joined Hoop to launch HR, Education and Nursing added new consultants to the teams. Later that year, Donna, another seasoned recruiter started to launch A&F. Education had some fantastic news, we tendered successfully for the NPS contract, Blair joined at the tail end of the year to lead the Education team.

At the start of year 4, Sarah joined to launch the Social Work division, quickly followed by 3 new graduates. Lucy, a long-time competitor joined in Jan 2020 to set up the temporary Social Care offering, shortly followed by another intake of 3 consultants. Then Covid hit. Ups, downs, and the full team pulling together. We could not have asked for more. July 2020, schools confirmed their re-opening in September, Krysh, joined to open the West Wales Education office. September – December 2020 another 4 new faces joined the team, with Covid making a come back this was a mix of office and remote working. April 2021, an office move and refit, enhanced H&S measures in place an updated agile working policy, 10 new starters and the launch of the governments Kickstarter scheme we’re finally back together (more or less), as a team, ready and raring to go for the next chapter at Hoop.

Year 5…

Hywel Roberts

Hoop Recruitment

(AKA Huw from Coop)