We're delighted to welcome Rich Ansell to the Linear team. Rich has joined in the role of Industrial Branch Operations Director and is tasked with building and managing our Industrial and Engineering Division. Rich is vastly experienced in the Industrial recruitment sectors and in recruitment in general, with over 25 years experience; the majority of this coming from the Industrial, Engineering, and commercial sectors.
You can find out more about Rich and what his role will involve in our Q&A with him..... Tell us a bit about yourself I’m married with two teenagers (wish me luck!) and a collie labrador. We live in an old house near Wakefield in a tiny little hamlet, surrounded by nature and consider ourselves lucky in our surroundings. I was born in Doncaster, lived in Leicester for a few years during and after Uni and am now living in West Yorkshire. I’m a rugby fan first, football second, and my teams are Doncaster Knights, Leicester Tigers and Leicester City (winning the Premiership was one of the greatest sporting achievements ever in my opinion!). What has your career been like to date? I fell into recruitment by accident straight after University (does anyone grow up wanting to be a recruiter? Astronaut wasn’t a viable option apparently). I’ve worked across various sectors, both Temp and Perm, including Industrial, Commercial, Call Centre and Accountancy and Finance. I have spent the majority of my career in Regional/National Operations roles responsible for the management and development of teams, branches and on-site provisions for clients across the North and Midlands. What will your role at Linear entail? Working with the excellent teams already in place to develop our branch-led and on-site service offerings to businesses across both Yorkshire and further afield. I’ve always enjoyed connecting with new clients and candidates and believe that done right, in partnership, recruitment can be a key driver to business improvement. I want us to be able to have these positive and engaged conversations with as many clients as possible. We can offer a solutions-led, tailored service to benefit. Why Linear Recruitment? I met with Gareth and Adam and immediately bought into their enthusiasm and vision for the business. The EOT (Employee Ownership Trust) demonstrates their commitment to the team as well as the business. The company is well established and run well with the right ethos and principles – something that isn’t always found out there in the wider recruitment industry. Linear genuinely cares about doing the right thing and providing a quality service for our clients and candidates. What are you looking forward to most in your new role? Renewing, developing and building new relationships with clients and candidates alike to benefit both them and Linear. We have great people here who care about the clients, candidates and the service we provide. One of the best, if not the best thing about recruitment, is meeting new people and learning more about their businesses in order to be able to develop a solution to their requirements. During my career I’ve been to businesses across so many different sectors, from prestige automotive to food manufacturing, from call centres to covid test centres. There is always something new to learn and someone great to meet with a story to tell or insight to share. I want us to be able to learn about more businesses and deliver a quality service that benefits them and helps support their recruitment needs in a cost effective manner. What are your first impressions of Linear Recruitment? I’m 4 weeks into my role and everyone has been very welcoming and helpful. There’s a positive energy about the place and it’s refreshing. The long tenure of a lot of the team is impressive and is testament to the culture. People want to do a good job, for themselves, their customers and the candidates. What do you think it takes to succeed in recruitment? The list is long, but tenacity, empathy, confidence, proactivity and a genuine interest in people and their business would be up there at the top of the list. What do you like to do outside of work? For the last couple of years we have been renovating and extending a 250 year old house and my father-in-law and I have done a lot of the work ourselves, so this has taken up most of my free time – whether I like to do it is debatable. As I’ve said, we have two teenagers so there is a lot of running round after them. My daughter swims, training 3 times a week as well as competing, so there’s a fair amount of sitting by a pool waiting and my son climbs so I can often be found sat in an indoor climbing centre watching him. We also have the dog, a hyperactive collie labrador that needs a lot of walks. I do enjoy a long walk on a cold crisp autumn morning.
After a couple of years off I have just got back to my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training – great for fitness and mindfulness. I am also a big rugby fan and get to as many Doncaster Knights and Leicester Tigers games as I can. What three things would you take on a desert island? I’d rather be somewhere snowy! Employee Milestones We'd like to say a massive congratulations to Gareth Arnold who celebrates his 20th year anniversary with the company in what is an amazing achievement.
Gareth started at Linear on 15th November 2004 in the Sheffield office on a Trades and Labour Desk. Throughout his time at Linear Gareth has been on a fantastic career path and progressed through the ranks, achieving Regional Manager in 2013 and then on to Director in October 2015.
It was 2017 when Gareth identified a niche in the market for which he could see a huge opportunity for himself and Linear and that’s when his Power & Utilities division was born which has proved to be extremely successful. In 2021 the strategic decision was made to integrate the Rail division into Power & Utilities and re-brand the division as RPI. From this point there really has been no turning back and the division has gone from strength to strength.
Gareth, with the help of Joe Poste, who has also been instrumental in their growth, now has a team of 9 people and the future for RPI is extremely exciting; it has a solid structure with excellent hardworking people and it really will continue to thrive.
We can’t speak highly enough of Gareth, both as a colleague and a friend. He is incredibly hardworking, passionate, enthusiastic, relentless and extremely loyal.
Congratulations Gaz 👏
Stars of the QuarterCongratulations to Dionne Holmes for being awarded our Star of the Quarter for Quarter 3. Dionne joined our Manchester office in January and has a superb first year with us, with a stand out quarter three on our Perms Construction Desk. We are looking forward to further successes from Dionne and the team in Manchester as we move towards 2025. 
Our Star of the Quarter for Quarter 4 is Nathan Shipsides. Nathan joined us in July this year and has had an excellent start to his career at Linear. His attitude and work ethic has been exemplary from the start and this is now showing in his results. Congratulations Nathan, we are all looking forward to a stellar 2025.  | 
