New hire as recruiter places renewed focus on tech sector

Recruitment specialist and Chamber patron SF Recruitment has continued its significant business growth with the appointment of technology director Sarah Harvey.

Sarah, who is the owner and director of Artemis Resourcing, joins the recruitment firm to lead the specialist technology division having previously led her business in providing talent solutions at all levels of seniority across technology and IT functions, including change professionals.

Bringing more than 20 years of technology recruitment experience and specialist industry knowledge to SF 's growing technology division, Sarah 's appointment will see her bring an extensive network of leaders and sector experts to the company.

With the West Midlands being named as the UK 's fastest growing technology sector, the SF Recruitment leadership team has announced its intention to make growth into the sector a strategic priority.

According to the West Midlands Growth Company, tech growth in the Midlands region grew by an average of 7.6 per cent a year between 2014 and 2019 and is expected to generate at least £2.7 billion and a further 55 per cent increase in roles in the local economy by 2025.

Sarah said: “I was looking for a business that reflected my own approach to work and really liked the entrepreneurial operating model at SF and the ethical approach the business takes in working with candidates and clients.

“Because of this, I felt it would be a great place to build a team and successful new business division. ”

A bigger, refocused team will now cover roles across multiple areas including transformation and change, technology leadership, software development, infrastructure and support, cyber security, BI and data analytics.

Sarah added: “The last few years have seen a growing number of businesses abandon the approach of seeing IT and technology as a support department and refocussing to become 'technology first '.

“These businesses are typically winning the race for the sector 's top talent and they are able to offer candidates attractive growth and career opportunities.

“When businesses are working hard to build innovative products and often racing to stay on top of the latest technology, it can be difficult to find the time to stay competitive as an employer too.

“Finding great people is more challenging than it 's ever been and retaining existing staff more crucial than ever. We aim to provide this additional layer of consultative support to our clients so they can remain attractive to top talent. ”

Saira Demmer, CEO of SF Recruitment, said: “I am delighted to welcome Sarah to our leadership team.

“Her appointment is an important step for us as we build out our technology division to meet the pace of demand we are seeing in the market.

“Many of our clients now name technology skills gaps as one of their top business challenges and we are expanding accordingly to continue to support them. ”

Pictured: New Divisional Director of SF Technology, Sarah Harvey, with SF's Managing Director Mike Lattimer