Anne Williams

Associate Director & Head of Recruitment, Group wide or multi sector

After 27 years, you’d think my passion for recruitment would have waned. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my moments, but I’m still driven by what cannot yet be replicated by machines: people. I love understanding what makes them tick, the nuances and quirks that make one person the perfect fit for one business, but not quite right for another.

Finance recruitment has always been my niche, but over recent years my passion has shifted away from the mechanics of recruitment and more towards developing my team. I’m certainly not perfect, but I do know that you’re never too old or too experienced to keep learning, and for me, every day is still a school day.

What I try to instil in my team is that service and empathy matter. When we’re on the receiving end of great service, we remember it. When we’re on the other end of poor service, we remember that too, and often for much longer. In recruitment, relationships are everything, and how you make people feel can define whether those relationships last.

At The Weekend You Will Find Me

Not doing that much, to be honest, and that suits me just fine. I’m not a social butterfly, quite the homebody in fact. Most weekends you’ll find me spending time with my dogs (two Retrievers and a Dalmatian, if you’re asking) and with my husband, who I’ve been with for over 30 years.

The one activity I do love is swimming. Given the opportunity, I could stay in the pool for hours.

Oh, and true crime. According to him, if you looked at my Netflix watchlist and my husband ever disappeared in mysterious circumstances, I’d be suspect number one. He may have a point.

Anne Williams

Get in touch

Hiring across A&F, HR, or Commercial Office? Looking for your next role in the region? Either way,
we’d be glad to hear from you.

Hire with TOG
Looking for a role
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THE ONE GROUP

Where we're from,
and how we got here

Twenty years of specialist recruitment in the East – and a lot of small decisions that added up.

TOG started in Peterborough in 2004 with a small team and a simple idea: that recruitment is a people business, done best by specialists who stay in their sector long enough to know it properly.

More than two decades on, we've grown into four offices across the East of England and Home Counties. We recruit for finance leaders, HR directors, engineering managers, tech founders, scientists, and the commercial teams that keep businesses running day to day. Between us, we've built up over 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of more than 150,000 candidates we've placed, coached, or come to know across two decades in the region.

The founding principle hasn't changed. Recruitment as it should be.

OUR STORY

Key events timeline

2004

Doors open in Peterborough.

Our first office launches with a team of six on Lynch Wood. Cambridge follows the same year, giving us two offices before our first anniversary.

2015

Northampton makes it three.

Our third office opens with a team of five, quickly growing to eleven consultants covering the wider Midlands region.

2017

Peterborough moves across the road.

The team has outgrown the founding office. We move into Arena House on Lynch Wood, big enough for a growing consultant base and the back-office team that supports the whole group.

2018

Cambridge moves too.

Our second office relocates to Cambourne Business Park, giving the growing Cambridge team the space it now needs.

2023

Four offices, three counties, one very good year.

The Hertfordshire & Essex office opens in Potters Bar, extending our footprint into the Home Counties.

In the same year, we're named Business of the Year in Northamptonshire, and Employer of the Year in both Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire at the regional SME Business Awards. Three counties, three panels.

TODAY

Still growing.

Four offices, more than 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of over 150,000 candidates.

Same founding principle.

SPECIALISTS BY DESIGN

What we do

We're specialists, not generalists. Every consultant at TOG focuses on one sector and stays in it. Not because it's the only way to do recruitment, but because it's how you build the depth to spot the difference between a strong CV and a strong hire.

It's also why so many of our clients come back to us years, even decades, after a first placement.

01
Accountancy & Finance
→
 02
Human Resources
→
 03
Commercial Office
Administration, customer service, project management and more
→
 04
Technology
→
 05
Engineering & Manufacturing
→
 06
Scientific
→
 07
Sales, Marketing & Creative
→
 08
Executive Search
Across all of the above
→

Beyond the recruitment itself, we produce annual salary guides, regional market reports, and the practical resources our clients and candidates turn to when they want a clearer view of what's happening in their sector.

THE WAY WE WORK

How we work

Four principles show up in every conversation and every process.
01

Be curious.

We stay interested in the market we work in, and in the people who work in it.

02

Keep it human.

We remember your kids' names and know how you take your coffee. That's just how we work here.

03

Make a difference.

We're here to help people build careers they love and businesses they're proud of.

04

Enjoy the ride.

Recruitment is a career, but it should be fun too. If it isn't, we've done something wrong.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Recruitment
as it should be.

Hire with TOG → Looking for a role →
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