Business leaders gather to celebrate Jonathan Lee Recruitment’s 40th anniversary

Midlands-based engineering and manufacturing recruitment specialist, Jonathan Lee Recruitment, celebrated its 40th anniversary with clients, suppliers and friends at a special lunch event on Friday, 29th June, at Hogarths Hotel in Solihull.

Business leaders from over 150 companies in the engineering, manufacturing and technical sectors came together to celebrate Jonathan Lee’s 40 years of investment in the industry, with guests including representatives from Toyota, Williams F1, Jaguar Land Rover, Vodafone Limited and Tata Steel.

Guests enjoyed speeches from Marvin Cooke, managing director of Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK and international rugby referee Nigel Owens. A prize draw raised over £4,000 for Kidderminster-based charity, the Emily Jordan Foundation, which supports people with learning disabilities in finding employment.

Jonathan Lee Recruitment was established in 1978 by chairman, Jonathan Lee, with the vision to establish long-term partnerships with clients in order to fully understand their business and its needs.

Marvin Cooke, a Jonathan Lee engineering recruit in 1991 and now managing director of Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK, said: “Jonathan Lee was the main technical recruitment agency for Toyota when they moved to the UK in the early 1990s and I don’t think we would have got to where we are today without their support.”

Jonathan Lee commented: “I’m so proud of my team and the supporting, caring ‘can-do’ culture we have created. A lot of recruitment agencies recruit people straight from university; but the key to our success is that many of our consultants have worked in the industry they recruit into and therefore have technical capabilities and a thorough understanding of the clients’ requirements.”

Founders of The Emily Jordan Foundation, Chris and Sarah Jordan said: “We’ve known Jonathan for many years; he has been involved since we set the charity up in 2008 and has always supported us so it’s great being here to support him today. We are very thankful for the generous donations made by lunch guests, which the Foundation will use to support the development of skills that people with learning disabilities need to gain employment.”

Headquartered in Stourbridge with offices in Basildon and Dubai, and design offices in Hatton, Jonathan Lee Recruitment has experienced steady growth over the last 40 years. Now with a total of 100 staff, the company has one of the lowest staff turnovers in the recruitment industry with nearly 40% of employees having been with Jonathan Lee Recruitment for five years or more, and 5% having served more than 20 years.

For more information on Jonathan Lee visit jonlee.co.uk. For more information on the Emily Jordan Foundation visit theemilyjordanfoundation.org.uk/.