Stephen Trigg: 30 years of Quanta

This year, on April 6^th, Quanta celebrates its 30^th birthday. From winning awards, going global, and growing an internal team to 90 employees – the past three decades have been nothing short of spectacular. Without the vision, courage and determination of one man – Quanta’s beloved founder and Chairman, Stephen, this journey would not have been possible. So, we sat down to hear what he has to say for reaching the 30-year milestone.

Why did you start Quanta?

To feed my family! I had just left my second start-up company, having sold out in the previous year. Quanta became my third start-up company; I was determined to make it work and restart my career in recruitment. My previous company had been bought out during the recession, and whilst I was employed to run two of the organisation’s offices, I always felt I was better suited to being my own boss and running my own business.

I knew my only option was to start again, and build a company based on the knowledge and experiences I had learned up until that point in time. Starting Quanta wasn’t without its challenges – getting back and hitting the phones and working alone without a team was not easy – but it was also incredibly invigorating. I am a salesperson at heart, so after the first few phone calls in the early weeks, it became very enjoyable. I was back to doing what I love.

What do you love about the recruitment industry?

Opportunity. There are endless opportunities in recruitment, and the world really is your oyster; you can go anywhere across the globe and recruit within any sector.

I am grateful for the opportunity that recruitment has given me, and all the people that I have worked with: my team, clients, and contractors. The craft of the industry is all about directing and focussing on new opportunities and finding a specific area to concentrate on. In the early days of Quanta, I specialised in some very niche areas, and that has been one of the main facets that have led to our business success. By focussing on a narrow market, with a deep knowledge, you can become first in class, which we have now achieved in the Renewable Energy, Life Sciences, Data and IT sectors we recruit in. 
How important are Quanta’s values to you and the organisation?

Quanta’s values are at the very heart of our business.  They provide the foundation upon which we conduct ourselves, both internally and externally.  In 2014 the ‘5 Values’ were created by all the staff after 6 months of workshops, brainstorming and ensuring we encompassed everyone’s opinion.  It was imperative everybody had a voice in this process as these values are the bedrock of our culture. 

What has been fundamental Quanta's success over the past 30 years?

Above all, it is the spirit and culture of the company. Channelling positivity and spirit in all that we do has been crucial. I don’t believe in a massive hierarchical empire, and employing management driven by ego. I believe in opportunity and equality given to everybody, whatever their role.

We employ certain tools at Quanta that have helped harness our creativity, productivity and overall success. Investment in our future is a huge element of what we do and is vital to the business. For this reason, we have created rigorous and thorough training programmes, creating learning opportunities that are available to our team throughout their career.

In addition, a tool that has become an underpinning of our operations at Quanta, taught to me by an ex-business partner in 1989, is Mind Mapping. Normal communication is two dimensional; depending upon where we live, we write horizontally from left to right or right to left or vertically, normally with one colour on a white background, but with mind mapping we communicate three dimensionally using colour, shape and size. This helps to engage wider areas of the brain and untap greater potential to organise your world coherently. I have mind mapped ever since and encourage the Quanta team to do so also.

What have been your highlights through the years?

My first Quanta contract: Paul Mahoney, May 1992. You always remember your first one. Thank you, Paul!

A more recent win has got to be receiving the Queen’s Award for International Trade on behalf of Quanta. I will never forget driving my Aston Martin through the gates of Buckingham Palace and into the inner courtyard, what a feeling!  I resisted the temptation to do a ‘doughnut’, but only just!

But really, there have been so many highlights through the years, and from an enterprising perspective, winning business is always very special. In the early days, I gained a foothold in recruiting for a niche market, Huron – a rule-based software language designed for Amdahl mainframes. We had simultaneous projects in both EMEA and APAC regions. It started our international journey, and we continue to recruit for countries throughout the globe.

Another notable time in my Quanta journey was putting roots down in Europe, opening up overseas offices in Neuchatel, Zurich, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. They became fundamental steppingstones in growing Quanta to be the global recruitment company that it is today.

What message do you have for Quanta and its next 30 years?

Continue to grow but stay true to who you are. We have always had an eye on undertaking projects in North America, and as we’ve grown Quanta to the size we are now, we have the numbers to support our American dream. The challenge for the future will be to maintain our ethos and values whilst we strive for new opportunities and grow the company. We have an excellent management team, and I am sure that we will build upon what is already a brilliant place to work.

What our team had to say about Stephen: