I’m excited to be finally launching Proco Commodities, and to be watching Commodity Search Partners come of age and move into the next phase of its development. Our new name is not about a fundamental change to what we do – nothing could be further from the truth – but as part of Proco Group I do believe we can be bigger and better, and offer both our clients and our colleagues a lot more.
For those of you that are new to Proco Group, let me tell you a bit more about Proco Global, with whom we combined nearly two years ago. Proco Global and Commodity Search Partners always shared a lot in common – roots in Brighton, a belief in specialising and adding value beyond recruitment, a love of supply chains, and a commitment to doing things differently. Proco Global is the leading specialist in supply chain executive search, and since 2008 has built an extensive global network of senior supply chain talent. Proco Commodities now plugs in to that network, adding an integral commodities piece that was not previously covered – although the line at which Proco Global finished and CSP started has always been blurred. We have always overlapped, and run complementary businesses.
Now we are all in one business, and while our clients continue to get the benefit of the same team, the same style and the same approach, for our people, there’s been some change. When Rich Paisley, CEO of Proco, and I set out on this journey, our biggest fear was that we might lose some of the great consultants that make this business tick. I’m delighted that we’ve had no attrition in relation to the merger of the brands, and instead we continue to attract talent thanks to our newfound ability to offer consultants, managers and support teams access to larger roles, more responsibilities, and even greater geographical mobility.
I’ve obviously spent a great deal of time over the past two years talking to our clients about how this can benefit them. Most have told me that as long as the service levels and methodologies don’t change, they’re happy, and I’ve been able to assure them of that. But I do believe that all those we work with will start to reap the rewards of this combination now that we’re operating under one name: our engagement with our clients will be better; and our add-ons will be more beneficial.
As an integrated part of Proco Group, we now have access to 10 offices around the world, and more planned, which means we are plugged into much greater networks of global supply chain talent and can offer deeper insights in more markets. We will be able to work in areas of our clients’ businesses that perhaps we’ve been unable to service previously – Proco Global covers procurement, supply chain, quality and operational excellence, and manufacturing. Its consultants are experts across eight sectors: automotive, process and chemicals, consumer goods, industrial equipment, food and beverage, life sciences, aerospace and defence, and technology.
Together, we now have a much more powerful brand with which to engage with candidates on behalf of our clients. We can reach further, and we have access to greater resources to focus on partnering with our established clients to add value through thought leadership and the sharing of information.
We remain committed to doing what we’ve always done, but as part of Proco Group we can also do more. We are not just another recruitment firm… we want to offer something extra. I’m excited by the potential of what’s now ahead of us, and I can’t wait to see where we’re going next.
