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COLIN COTTELL MET WITH PAUL CLARK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER, AND JAMIE SOBRANY, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT) RECRUITER, PENTA CONSULTING
Not many recruiters get to hobnob with royalty, but for Jamie Sobrany, managing director of international information and communications technology (ICT) recruiter, Penta Consulting, it's all in a day's work.
Sobrany has just flown in from Saudi Arabia. Looking fit and tanned, he is looking forward to Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims as a time of fasting. "It's great for networking with the sheikhs," he says, explaining the importance of that time in the evening, when sheikhs and government officials break their fast, and sit around for two to three hours talking. "That's when a lot of business is done," he adds.
On the other hand, he says with a certain air of resignation, much of the machinery of government closes down during Ramadan, so getting things done quickly can be all but impossible.
As winner of Best International Recruitment Agency at last month's Recruiter Awards for Excellence, sponsored by Eploy, both Sobrany and Paul Clark, co-founder of Penta, can talk for England about the importance of understanding local culture when doing business abroad.
The firm, which was set up in 1998 by Clark and Richard Wilson, operates in 85 countries round the world Along with the Recruiter Award that sits proudly on the reception desk at its headquarters in Wallington, Surrey, Penta is also a winner of the Queen's Awards for Enterprise.
Clark explains how Penta's sponsors in the Gulf States love being associated with the winner of both awards. "They say 'my recruitment business in the UK, which has been recognised'," he says.
As Sobrany explains having a sponsor onboard is vital in the Middle East where Penta does 31% of its business. "There is no set way of going about it, by doing x, y and z. It depends on who you know and who can facilitate your ability to get visas. Both in Qatar and Dubai our business partners are the royal families, so obviously it opens a lot of doors," he says.
In Qatar, thanks to its sponsor, Sheikh...