Monica Clare Recruitment is celebrating five years of business, servicing the Central Coast, Hunter and Newcastle regions.

In this time, the business has grown from a team of two to 18 and are now one of the largest, specialised white-collar recruitment firms in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region.

Monica Clare Recruitment is the namesake of friends and founders, Monica Walmsley and Clare Ferguson.

The business began at Monica’s dining room table in 2016, born from an aspiration to create a business that matched the standards of their tier-one experiences, but with the adaptability and agility of a boutique.

Founder Clare Ferguson said their business has gone further than ever anticipated, but that isn’t without a lot of hard work and the help of some great people along the way.

“Monica Clare Recruitment has succeeded far beyond what I ever allowed myself to imagine in those first few months,” she recalls.

“We always knew we were building a boutique business that focused on the client and candidate experience, but to be one of the fastest growing and, now, the largest white-collar recruitment firm in the region is humbling.

“It’s a real credit to our team, our vision, our mentors and pure hard work.”

The team are the lifeblood of Monica Clare Recruitment.

“Having fun has been at the core of what we do. We invest in hiring people who see recruitment as a career, have a true passion for what they do and a fun attitude,” Monica said.

“We are fortunate that we are a business where really experienced and successful consultants call us to come and work here.

“We’ve succeeded in creating a culture and space that offers true autonomy to recruitment professionals while also feeling supported.”

The first employee to join the team did so before they had their first formal office.

Diane Coyte joined as Recruitment Coordinator and has since progressed to Talent Specialist.

“The energy, passion and vision were the main drivers to joining Monica Clare Recruitment,” Diane said.

“If you’ve met Monica or Clare and know of their strong backgrounds in recruitment, you will know there is so much to learn from them.”

Seven months into the business, Monica, Clare and Diane moved into their first office, affectionately nicknamed the dungeon.

The dungeon – without windows and natural light – is a stark contrast to their current office on Clyde Street in Hamilton North. The office now is light-filled, open, airy and displays a mural created by a local street artist.

In many ways it shows how far Monica Clare Recruitment has come.

“In those first two years of business we had to wear many hats. We knew we were great recruiters, but we didn’t know how to run a business, so that was a learning curve. But we feel like we’ve come out other side and blossomed,” Clare states.

In the last year, Monica Clare Recruitment has begun expanding its reach, acquiring many roles and clients with a national net.

Simon Rutten joined in 2019 at Recruitment Director and was key in delivering a successful outcome for the Hunter Water Recruitment Services panel in 2021.

“Monica Clare Recruitment is structured in a unique way, one that allows for a greater focus on specialty recruitment,” Simon said.

“The Partnership Package, for example, allows the business to grow while also giving clients access to a tailored service that provides them with great results.

“This package has allowed us to gain great results for national and international brands that we are currently recruiting for.”

Krystle Parker, who joined the team in 2020 as Business Manager, oversees the recruitment team and is a key driver for future growth.

“I joined Monica Clare Recruitment because I wanted to be part of a company that evolved quickly. For me, the vision for the next five years is extremely exciting; we have some amazing goals and that will see our business reach higher growth than what it has in the last five years,” Krystle added.

“Monica Clare Recruitment has big plans for the next five years. Watch this space,” Clare concluded.

IMAGE | Monica Clare Recruitment team celebrating five strong years of business.