Starting Point Recruitment has taken on 12 new staff after its best-ever financial year

A multi-sector recruitment firm serving the West Midlands has grown its headcount from 33 to 45 following a record-breaking year for job placements.

Starting Point Recruitment (SPR), which operates from Walsall and Birmingham, hired 12 new members of staff this month, representing a 36 per cent increase in its workforce.

The expansion comes after SPR placed 1,148 people into jobs in the 12 months to the end of March 2026, a 65.4 per cent rise on the previous financial year’s total of 694 starts. It marks the company’s strongest performance since it was founded in 2002.

Bucking the national trend

The growth arrives against a difficult backdrop for the UK labour market. The West Midlands recorded an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent between December 2025 and February 2026, above the national rate of 4.9 per cent for the same period, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Professor Paul Cadman, chief executive of SPR, said: “Despite a tough national and regional jobs market, the West Midlands is currently attracting huge investment, and that requires talented people to resource, which is where SPR comes in.

“We’ve expanded our workforce by more than a third to cater for this growth. There has never been a more exciting time to be right here in this region, a region whose best chapters lie ahead.”

Birmingham’s £3bn sports quarter

Among the major developments reshaping Birmingham is a new Sports Quarter representing a £3 billion investment, forecast to generate 8,400 jobs annually and £370 million in annual economic growth. The project includes a 60,000-seat stadium and is led by US firm Knighthead.

Jamie Naish, executive director at SPR, said: “There is no substitute for great people, and we’ve just hired 12 to help broaden our client offering as the West Midlands charts a course of strong growth.”