Work Anniversaries: 11 years at ECOM with Rob Sugden and Joe Parker
Pubished 28th April 2023
Join us as we celebrate 11 years at ECOM with two exceptional individuals, Rob Sugden and Joe Parker.
Video Transcription
Hi, I’m Rob, MD for ECOM in the North and I'm here today talking about the fact that I've been with InterQuest Group for 11 years.
Hi, I'm Joe, Associate Director at ECOM. I've been there for 11 years as well…and we joined at the same time.
What has kept you at ECOM?
Rob: So, 11 years I guess a long time in any company in the modern day, certainly a long time in the recruitment industry.
Certainly, for me the reason I stayed with InterQuest Group for as long as I have is two big key reasons.
One is the people and culture. It's a great place to work. I really enjoy working here. But I think probably more importantly is the progression, there's always been a clear path of progression for me to follow, how about you Joe?
Joe: Yeah, I'd agree with that. In a word, progression, it's always been super clear for me what the next step is and how to get there. I've not needed to look at anything else.
What’s your greatest achievement at ECOM?
Joe: So for me, one of the things that I'm most proud of is the brand that was managed to create and the name that we've built for ourselves in the market.
Rob: For me, if we look back where we started, we weren't even ECOM when we started in Manchester. We were a different part of the InterQuest Group, but we started with no name, no track record, no candidates, no clients. Over 11 years we’ve built a really strong reputation in the Manchester Digital space.
How have you seen the business change over the years?
Rob: So, over the last 11 years we’ve seen a huge change in the overall culture of InterQuest. As an organisation, we're a company that's grown through acquisitions. Certainly, when I started, we were a lot of very individual companies working in individual ways with individual focus.
It’s very much of one business now while we have a few different brands that we go to market with, ECOM being one of those. We do operate as one company with shared values, shared focus and a real collaborative approach to how we work across the business.
Joe: For me, when I first started working at ECOM, Rob touched on this earlier, but we weren't even called ECOM. I don't think we had a name; we barely had a database; we didn't have any clients and we didn't have any candidates. So, to come from that to where we are now, it's been a massive change. I feel like the team has matured a lot, our working practice has matured a lot and yeah, we've all grown up along the way.
What have you enjoyed most about your job?
Rob: I'm really lucky that I enjoy a lot about my job and about the company that I work for, and a lot of it comes down to the diversity of my role and the variety of things to get involved in. It's not the same old thing every day and I get the opportunity to get involved in lots of things, whether that be recruiting at very senior level, whether it's leading the team, whether it's getting involved in events, whether it's filming videos like this. There's always something different to get involved in and always new challenges as we look to change our ways of working and adapt to the market.
Joe: The thing that I enjoy while working here is the level of our autonomy and the freedom and trust that I get from my team and that I'm able to give to the team around me.
Rob: One of the other things I really enjoy about working for the InterQuest Group is the people, very lucky to work with and for a group of like-minded individuals. Both at a local level we've got really great team in Manchester, lucky enough to have worked with Joe for 11 years, so he had to put up with me for a very long time! Then if I look at the wider level across the Group, everyone you know regardless of the brands they've worked for, the divisions they worked for the Group have very much shared values and shared mindsets.
Are you interested in joining our team?
Get in touch:
julie.pratten@interquestgroup.com
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