Alistair Houghton meets STEPHEN NICKSON, managing director of recruitment firm DATS

RECRUITMENT firm DATS has designs on growth as it looks to recruit staff of its own.

The family business, today led by Stephen Nickson, had a difficult two years as the sectors it served struggled in tough economic times.

But Warrington-based DATS kept pushing to win contracts in its core markets, from the nuclear industry to the oil and gas sector.

And it reactivated its Computer-Aided Design arm, which focuses on mechanical and structural design, to give it another income stream.

Now, says Nickson, DATS has turned the corner and is ready to take on more staff of its own.

“It has been tough for the last two tax years,” he said.

“But we have not made any redundancies and we have maintained staff levels. We’re now looking to take on a few more people in the next three months. We’re looking to expand.

“Last year was the turnaround. This year, we have continued to grow.

“Turnover did get to £5.6m back in 2010. We closed the last year at £6.5m. If we keep on track, we’ll get to £9m this year. With a bit of effort, we could get the business back up to about £10m.

“That’s off the back of CAD and repeat business.

“We will keep working hard to find people who have saleability to our clients. We’ve got to keep looking under each pebble. If we don’t, we’re not going to succeed.”

DATS was founded in 1952 by Stephen’s father, Trevor, who had completed a five-year apprenticeship at ICI, but felt that his ambitions lay outside the corporate structures of the chemicals giant.

Trevor started off working in design, but, in 1959, came the opportunity that would create today’s recruitment business.

“He went down to Metal Box in Speke for a meeting,” said Nickson.

“He said he wanted to be a design officer, and they said that’s a great idea, but not today. We need three engineers today. Can you find them?

“Like a typical salesman, he said yes. He then left and thought ‘how do I find them?’”

Trevor chose to find them through an advert in our sister paper, the Liverpool Echo, one Friday night.

And, on a routine trip to the office the next morning, Trevor suddenly realised that his career path was set.

Nickson said: “He turned up at the office and saw a queue. He followed it round the block and thought ‘hang on – that’s going to my office!’ There were 45 people there.

“He quickly concocted a form, carbon-copied it, and did some quick interviews with every one. That was the start of where we are today.”

Trevor built up the contract personnel arm of the business and also developed the technical drawing side of the business, working for companies including ICI and BNFL.

Nickson was born eight years after his father started the business.

“I remember when I was a kid going into the office when my father was babysitting,” he mused. “He was drawing tankers. I used to think I could do the same thing, even though I was just seven or eight.”

Nickson worked there in his summer holidays but joined full-time in 1992, after taking his HND in production engineering . His course gave him a background in engineering which still proves helpful when dealing with DATS clients.

He started working in the design office before moving to the recruitment business in 1996, specialising in the engineering, nuclear, chemical and utilities sectors. And, in late 2002, he succeeded his uncle Stuart as managing director, after shadowing him for the previous two years.

DATS focuses on white-collar permanent and contract staff in sectors including oil and gas, renewable energy, nuclear, chemicals, ports and logistics. It works across the UK, but much of its business is done in the North West – home, of course, to many key players in those sectors.

“We’ve got relationships dating back 30-plus years with some of our clients,” said Nickson. Some of them are blue-chip companies, some of them are SMEs.

“Continuity is key. It’s all well and good getting one single placement, but you need to make sure they’re pleased with the service, so you get repeat business.”

The recession took its toll on DATS’s recruitment arm.

“Unfortunately,” said Nickson, “the first thing that gets cut when companies are feeling the recession is temporary head-count. So overnight we lost some of that turnover that we’d been building up.

“And unfortunately, during that period, there wasn’t the same level of business coming through. We were stepping up our efforts, but it requires a lot more effort to get a return.

“The market turned last October and we’ve seen things picking up.

“There are some key projects in the North west in the next two or three years that we’re involved with.

“Demand has picked up, though there is an air of cautiousness. It’s a competitive market out there.”

There are, says Nixon, skills shortages in many of the sectors DATS serves. But that skills gap means there is an even greater need for companies such as DATS, who can track down the skilled workers who are out there.

“It’s a big challenge,” said Nickson. “But it’s been a challenge for 20 or 30 years.

“We don’t as a country invest enough in training for industry.”

The recruitment industry faces regular regulatory changes. The latest challenge it faces is the new Agency Workers Regulations, which mean workers recruited through agencies get the same basic employment and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly.

After 12 weeks, they are entitled to the same pay and holidays as the permanent staff they work alongside.

“It’s a challenge for the industry,” said Nickson, “because there’s more paperwork involved, more checking, and more liability on us to make sure we’ve done the due diligence when placing workers.

“At the moment, the roll-out has been going OK.”

DATS used to have offices in Widnes, Stockport and Warrington, but has now consolidated in Warrington. It has, however, retained many of the properties it has occupied over the years and continues to make money from that portfolio.

DATS also has a subsidiary, MSSJ, which renovates and lets houses.

Nickson says having distinctive income streams gives DATS security and stability.

DATS sold off its CAD arm several years ago to focus on its recruitment business. But recently Nickson has reactivated that CAD business in response to a request from a client.

“We spent in the last six months £20,000 on IT and software,” he said. “There’s potentially more investment on the way.

“The model is that if people say ‘can you do this design, it’s pretty niche’, and we need to bring in that skill, we use our recruitment arm.”

In June, Nickson stood down as chairman of Halton Chamber of Commerce after seven years.

Last year, the Chamber appointed Paula Cain as its chief executive, and Nickson says it has a bright future as it looks to recruit more members.

Nickson, who still sits on the Chamber’s board, said: “A lot of people don’t realise that a Chamber is a business. It’s not publicly funded. It’s totally dependent on the private sector – its members.

“It’s a small Chamber, but it’s dynamic. Paula has come on board and really brought a fresh approach.

“There are a lot of exciting things happening in Halton, like the Mersey Gateway and Stobart’s investment there. The new bridge is going to benefit not just Halton, but the whole region.”

Nickson, who completed the London Marathon a few years ago, lives in Cheshire with his family.

“I’ve got two young kids,” he said. “That keeps me pretty active. They love to go cycling.”

He is also a keen Rugby League fan, and regularly watches Widnes Vikings from the DATS box at the Stobart Stadium.

Nickson’s father, Trevor, retired at 55 but has kept his interest in the business as non-executive chairman.

“He and my mother are the major shareholders,” said Nickson. “He’s 74 and he still takes an active interest.”

Nickson’s brother-in-law, Simon Hancock, is also a director.

“Family businesses have their own dynamic,” smiled Nickson.

“When I ring up my parents socially, we end up talking about business.”