A global private equity investor specialising in recruitment
Empowering recruiters to build something for themselves.
Recruitment Entrepreneur is one of the most successful private equity investors in recruitment businesses. Our mission is to help founders globally, launch, scale, and eventually exit their own recruitment businesses, generating a wealth creation event. We invest in all sectors within the recruitment industry, which provides a diverse portfolio of businesses, each one a specialist in its own niche.
We have fostered a community of businesses that benefit from the expertise of our dedicated team who provide; funding, financial expertise, operational strategy, back-office support, legal advice, marketing, and talent attraction solutions, all of which enable our partner businesses to flourish.
Our founder & Chairman
James Caan CBE
Having founded Recruitment Entrepreneur in 2014, former Dragons' Den star and serial entrepreneur James Caan CBE plays a pivotal role in shaping each business within our portfolio.
James has been in recruitment for over 30 years and invests in recruitment companies of all sizes across various geographies and sectors.
Alexander Mann, his first recruitment business, sold in 2013 for £260 million. His second recruitment venture, Humana International, grew to 140 offices across 30 countries.
With 3 million followers, James was named LinkedIn’s second most influential voice of 2017. His global network, both online and offline, has assisted our current CEOs in attracting the best talent, clients and candidates to their businesses.
Meet the leadership team
James Caan CBE
Chairman
James Caan CBE
Chairman
As Chairman, James takes an active role in the investment process, working closely with the Recruitment Entrepreneur team to support you and your company. His hands-on approach enables entrepreneurs to learn from his considerable experience in founding and scaling recruitment businesses.
Perry Barrow
Country Manager
Perry Barrow
Country Manager
Perry comes from a decade of corporate background in Banking having worked for Lloyds Banking group as a Banker in the UK and Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. Following a stint as a Recruiter for search firms in Singapore, Perry founded First Global Direct Pte Ltd in 2014 as an executive recruiting firm specialising in Banking and Finance, Private Banking and Fintech, and subsidiary brands FGD Media for organising networking and Investor events and FGD Strategic for Outsourced Sales & Marketing such as a UK Sales and Marketing Team for the Recruitment Ai SaaS Platform 'X0pa AI' in 2020.
Since 2017 Perry has also served on the boards of Asia CEO Community, Singapore Chapter and Asian Wealth Community for organising networking events and assessing investor propositions for the community.
Martin Nicholls
Investment Director
Martin Nicholls
Investment Director
As Investment Director, Martin is responsible for identifying and onboarding Local Partners and Country Managers, leveraging his existing relationships and network to identify potential new founders in the region. He will utilise his vast experience within the sector to help coach and develop entrepreneurs to scale their business to achieve a realisation event.
Having lived in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, he brings a unique knowledge of the region to Recruitment Entrepreneur International. Martin moved to Australia in 1997 where he was responsible for growing ANZ’s leading technology recruitment business - Morgan & Banks Technology.
When this business was acquired by Hudson, Martin took leadership of Hudson’s professional recruitment businesses across Australia and New Zealand. At the same time, he was the driving force behind a number of significant of acquisitions and their subsequent integration into the organisation.
Following a few years as CEO of Beilby Corporation in Australia, Martin moved to Hong Kong as CEO to play his part in building out Talent 2’s Asian capability. Since then he has remained in Asia, frequently travelling to Australia, occupying key roles with Kelly, Randstad and, more recently, his own consulting firm.