30 years of Frazer Jones: celebrating our people, partnerships and the HR community 

Nick Croucher

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6–9 minutes

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For 30 years, Frazer Jones has been connecting talented HR professionals with organisations around the world. 

But our story has always been about more than recruitment. It is about the relationships we have built, the careers we have followed, the organisations we have supported and the HR community we are proud to be part of. 

As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we asked some of our colleagues, clients and candidates to reflect on their experiences with Frazer Jones, what has made those relationships last and the role we have played in the HR profession over the past three decades. 

Their stories highlight the expertise, trust and sense of community that have shaped Frazer Jones since the beginning. 

Recruitment is built on relationships, and some of ours span decades. 

Our candidate networks go back 30 years. We have worked with professionals throughout their careers, sometimes placing the same person multiple times as they have progressed into increasingly senior positions. 

Those long-term relationships give our teams a deeper understanding of the people behind a CV. We know their experience, ambitions and what matters to them, helping us connect organisations with people who have the skills and the potential to thrive within their culture. 

That can mean supporting someone taking the next step in their career or seeing a placement develop into something much bigger. 

“You place someone into a senior HR role and five, 10 years later they are Chief HR Officer, or you see someone build a great team and have a real impact on the organisation.”

Sean Tong | Managing Director, Asia

For our consultants, those moments are what make recruitment rewarding. Placing an HR leader can have an impact far beyond one individual, influencing teams, cultures and ultimately the direction of an organisation. 

Over those 30 years, both HR and recruitment have changed considerably. 

Simply identifying somebody with the right experience is no longer enough. Organisations need people who understand their business, complement their culture and can make a lasting contribution. 

That is why our approach is deliberately high touch. 

We take the time to understand the organisation behind a brief, including its business needs, culture and ambitions. Equally, we get to know our candidates as people, understanding where they want their careers to go rather than simply focusing on their next role. 

As one of our clients explains:

“Frazer Jones really takes their time to understand the company’s culture and to really see what kind of person would fit.” 

That understanding helps us look beyond the most obvious candidate on paper and focus on creating the right long-term connection. 

As an HR specialist, our expertise has been developed over three decades of conversations with candidates, clients and colleagues. 

We understand the HR function, the talent landscape and the challenges businesses face when building their teams. Our international network also means those perspectives do not exist in isolation. 

Our colleagues regularly share market insight and talent expertise across geographies, sectors and specialisms, giving our clients and candidates access to a much broader view of the HR market. 

“We’re an HR specialist that has built relationships over three decades, so we understand the function, the talent landscape and we’re able to provide candidates and clients with key market insights.”

Brad | Managing Director, North America

That insight has become an important part of the relationships we build. Clients come to our teams not only when they need to hire, but when they want to understand the wider talent market, from candidate availability to mobility and changing expectations. One client described Frazer Jones as their “go to for any future insights”. 

Another highlighted how regular conversations with the team helped shape their understanding of the HR market. 

It is this combination of specialist expertise and long-standing relationships that allows our consultants to act as advisers and partners, rather than simply recruiters. 

The HR function of today looks very different from the one Frazer Jones began recruiting into 30 years ago. 

Its influence within organisations has grown, new disciplines and specialisms have developed and expectations of HR leaders have changed. 

We have evolved alongside it. 

Today, our expertise extends across geographies, sectors and areas of the HR function, giving our teams both a broad perspective on what great HR looks like and specialist knowledge within their individual markets. 

As one colleague reflected:

“The role Frazer Jones has played over the last 30 years is being an enabler, being a champion, taking the HR function that 30 years ago had a very different reputation to really highlighting and showcasing the transformational benefit of having a forward-thinking, dynamic HR function.”

Nick Croucher | Global Head of Frazer Jones

Being able to play even a small part in that evolution is something we are immensely proud of. 

While markets, technology and the HR profession have changed over the last three decades, the importance of people has remained constant. 

That applies just as much inside Frazer Jones as it does to the candidates and organisations we support. 

Several of our colleagues highlighted the expertise and support they have experienced within the business, from joining a team filled with experienced recruiters to building careers spanning more than a decade. 

“I remember first arriving and feeling how much expertise and knowledge that there was in the room and it’s been an amazing place to learn how to do my job.”

Charlotte Faktor | Director, UK

It is that collaboration that also allows our teams to support clients internationally. Knowledge and relationships are shared across the business, connecting expertise from different markets around a common purpose. 

That purpose remains simple: helping organisations build exceptional HR teams and helping talented people take the next step in their careers.

Perhaps the theme that comes through most strongly after 30 years is trust. 

Trust from organisations to understand what they need. Trust from candidates to support important career decisions. And trust developed through relationships that have continued across different roles, businesses and stages of people’s careers. 

“I’m most proud of the trust that Frazer Jones has built within the HR community. I think we’ve been an incredible connector within that space and that’s a legacy we should certainly be proud of.”

Nicole Graham | Director, US

We are particularly proud of the community those relationships have helped create. 

Over three decades, we have watched candidates become clients, supported HR professionals as they have progressed into leadership positions and seen organisations and careers transform along the way. 

For many of our people, being able to follow those journeys is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.

Thirty years gives us plenty to celebrate, but it also gives us plenty to build on. 

The HR profession will continue to evolve, and so will the needs of the organisations and people within it. Whatever changes, our focus remains on the principles that have brought us this far: specialist expertise, meaningful relationships, collaboration, honesty and a genuine commitment to the HR community. 

To everyone who has been part of the Frazer Jones story over the past 30 years, from our colleagues and alumni to our clients and candidates, thank you. 

We are incredibly proud of the journey so far and excited about what comes next. 

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