Stephen has been immersed in recruiting tech talent since 1998 when CVs were submitted via Royal Mail and Messrs Larry & Sergey were only just putting together their game changing business idea.

Initially assigned to the Progress 4GL & Informix markets, his exposure nowadays is a little more current and he has over the years amassed enviable experience developing new business & managing significant campaigns. In 2014 he, along with then colleague Richard, decided he wanted to form a recruitment company that focussed on a different ethos to the big corporates of the time with an emphasis on people, not profit. In his role as Director, Stephen remains a hands-on recruiter as well as leading the Business Development side of Candour ensuring as many of the organisations we know we can help as possible hear about the way we do things.

In addition, he also ensures that some of our key clients are receiving the quality service they deserve and takes ownership of the training side for new “Candourians”.Outside of work, Stephen has the misfortune (for the time being at least!) of keeping up with the travails of Arsenal FC but has increasingly seen his time (and that of his partner and daughter) monopolised by his excitable young Vizsla puppy, Ruby.

After nearly a decade spent harnessing his creative spirit in the kitchens, Richard eventually sought to expand his horizons away from the catering industry (missing watching his beloved Man UTD every weekend had finally taken its’ toll!)

Moving into the legal profession, he quickly progressed from admin assistant to no.1 fee earner in the business before being enticed to apply his thirst for further success to the recruitment industry. As with everyone at Candour, he remains a hands-on recruiter coupled with the handling of key accounts within the business and ensuring the candidate experience for everyone we engage with is second to none. Fiercely proud of his no nonsense approach to recruitment, he has a decade long track record of unearthing some of the trickiest to source talent across the entire technical spectrum.

When it comes to free time, aside from keeping his cooking skills on point he’s spent nearly two decades attempting to hit that magical single figure golf handicap – so far unsuccessfully. Recent years have seen his chances of reaching this milestone severely by the beautiful additions to his family: Ariella & Owen.

Sophie joined us in May 2023 as Associate Director, bringing with her a wealth of experience across all aspects of technical recruitment.  

From Account Management to Business Development, Sophie has a proven track record of delivering a quality recruitment service to both candidates and clients alike across a multitude of technical areas from .Net to Mobile to Testing. Not only that, but in more recent times, Sophie has recruited and developed some of the best young recruiters in the sector with great success.

A keen sportswoman, Sophie plays (and coaches) hockey to National League standard and is currently in training for her first ever IronMan Triathlon (2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a marathon … all in one day!).

When she isn’t pounding the streets or turning the pedals, Sophie can be found out and about with her dogs, Max and Lola.

A graduate of Sheffield Hallam University where he studied Sport & Exercise Science in a city he still reveres to this day, Joe brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in technology recruitment to #TeamCandour.

His career to date began with an introduction to the industry in the print & digital field before moving into the tech arena with Big Cloud where he focused on all things machine learning, engineering & analytics across Singapore and the United States – Joe is definitely not shy of working unsociable hours to get deals over the line around the globe!

Outside of the office and as his education would suggest, this is man who lives for his sport & fitness regularly turning out for our sponsored club’s hockey team at Timperley. He’s also a member of the select breed of individuals to have completed a 38 mile ultramarathon in the Brecon Beacons with plans to run the Manchester Marathon also underway.

His other loves include all things cooking & baking – an underrated Ainsley Harriott by all accounts – and he also harbours a dream of taking in entire farm’s worth of rescue dogs one day. Who says recruitment consultants are lacking heart!

A self-confessed Swiftie hailing from just down the road of us in sunny Sale, Orla studied at Loreto Gramma School & Loreto College before attending the University of Salford where she sailed through her BA in Fashion, Business & Promotion with a First Class Honours.

With subjects covering digital marketing in the modern workplace and in search of a target driven career opportunity, becoming an expert recruiter in such a field couldn’t have made more sense!

When she’s not tinkling the ivories which has been a fave pastime of hers for over 7 years now, you can usually find Orla at the local Pilates class or working her way through her hard earned commission supping overpriced Latte’s.

A determined individual, she has her sights firmly set on running the Manchester Marathon this year in a time of under 4 hours, no doubt she’ll smash it!

Born and raised in the North London market town of Barnet, Jack swapped the sunny South for the rain-swept North-West when he moved to Knutsford at the age of 10.

After graduating Knutsford High School, he continued his education at Oxford Brookes where he achieved a First-Class Honours in English Language with a dissertation in forensic linguistics all whilst holding down the vice captaincy of the football team and a place on the committee.

Wanting to get started in his chosen vocation straight after graduation, he joined London based Venn Group as a trainee Recruitment Consultant and his drive & determination quickly saw him promoted to Consultant working the financial services sector focusing on financial crime & compliance.

With a year’s solid experience of the world of work, he left to spend time seeing the sights of South-East Asia, Australia & Indonesia where he undertook some volunteer work in a Bali school. The final leg of his travels saw him working as an English teacher in Valencia.

Returning to the UK, it was time to get his long-term career goals back into focus and the team at Candour offered a perfect local opportunity to work in a collaborative team with a laser focus on individual training & progression.

Outside of work, he stills enjoys a game of football, playing tennis and the occasional morning spent spraying balls in all directions across wide open spaces (often referred to as golf!). He’s also an avid follower of the mighty Spurs and still keeps an eye on his hometown team of Barnet FC allowing him to enjoy the occasional market town derby here in Altrincham!

Hailing from a legal background where she was first a high achieving senior fee-earner before switching to focus on auditing & compliance handling, Gemma has recently returned to the world of work after a hard-fought number of years bringing her two beautiful children Ariella & Owen into the world.

Her time spent as a full-time mother gave her time to reflect on what truly fanned her passions in the workplace leading to a decision to focus on a role where she could exploit her more creative talents when the time came – digital marketing seemed a perfect place to start!

When she’s not chasing two hyperactive toddlers around or learning the finer details of the Adobe creative cloud suite, Gemma can usually be found curled up with a glass of fizz taking in episodes of Love Island or stretching out at the local Pilates studio.

The noblest of noble steeds

Very good bone manner.

It may sound like something of a cliché, but we really do believe that not all recruiters are the same. We’re genuinely trying to do things differently and are on the hunt for dedicated professionals to help us on the next step of our journey.

We don’t discriminate – we celebrate uniqueness and have a team full of amazing individuals who come together to unite as one. We don’t focus too much on your past experience, we’re looking for the attitude we know will continually drive you to be successful. We look for individuals who are passionate about providing the best possible service they can whatever the challenges faced.

If working for an agency that has created an unrivalled company culture and prides itself on empowering you to progress is important to you then apply to join the team today!

More Reasons to Join #TeamCandour?

• 24 days holiday + Birthday day off + Christmas shut down
• Bespoke progression plan
• Continual industry training
• Use of leading recruitment tech – Recruiter, Sourcebreaker, Vincere CRM etc
• Market-leading commission & incentives
• £500 clothing allowance
• Yearly holiday incentives
• Pension plan
• Flexible lunch breaks & working hours
• Work from home options
• Gym membership

We’re going from strength to strength working with fantastic household names filling some of the top data, technology and analytics jobs around and we’re far from finished!

Think you’ve got what it takes? You know where to find us.