Bristol recruitment consultancy Paratus People has beaten its first-year turnover target by more than 300%, achieving £2.2m and opening an office in Amsterdam.
The firm, which was launched in April last year, is now expanding its European client base and hoping to grow its sales to £6m in the current financial year. 
Specialising in recruiting for the broadcast technology and Internet of Things (IoT) industries, the firm was set up by recruitment expert Tom White, who previously worked as a director at People Source, where he helped grow the company until its sale in December 2015 for nearly £20m.
Paratus People now employs six staff at its Queen Square office and two people in Amsterdam. It provides consultancy and recruitment services for FTSE 100 companies through to fast-growing young tech firms, including TomTom, BSkyB and NTT Data.
The vast majority of clients are in mainland Europe with the team providing consultancy on EU compliance and regulatory issues.
Managing director Tom, pictured, said: “Companies want to work with people with passion and drive, who aren’t going to become complacent. With some of the really big recruitment agencies, it can become a churn whereas for us, every client matters. 
“With Paratus People, we want to create a culture that makes people feel at home, enjoy what they do and feel proud of their work.”
Tom, who studied computing at UWE, believes his strength has been in understanding the industry he serves.
“After university, I was fed up of coding so went into recruitment, but a lot of my friends remained in the field so I started doing work for them and quickly built up a reputation as a recruiter who really understood the industry,” he said.
The IoT sector is forecast to be worth £364bn by 2020, with the number of smart home devices shipped growing from 83m in 2015 to 193m in 2020, so Tom is optimistic about Paratus People’s potential to grow alongside this.
“By the end of 2018 I would like the company to be employing 20 people and turning over £10m to £15m,” he said.
The Paratus name comes from Latin, with its literal translation as ‘prepared, ready and skilled’.
