Helen Sanders

Every bad hire costs you £50-100K and 6 months you can't get back. I've spent 27 years making sure that doesn't happen.

My unusual journey started as the BBC's first female football commentator in 1997. While breaking barriers in the commentary box, I noticed something crucial: the teams that won weren't necessarily the ones with the most talented players. They were the ones where people just clicked.

That insight became the foundation of everything I do at HFBAC.

HFBAC = Hiring For and Building Awesome Companies (pronounced "Half-back")

WHY CLIENTS STAY:
Most recruiters disappear after the invoice clears. I don't.

13 companies I've worked with for 3+ years. 
11 more who've hired through me multiple times over 5+ years. 

Two partnerships spanning over a decade - including one where I've been their embedded Talent Partner for 10+ years.

My favourite success story? A US tech start-up company asked me to help build their UK team. I hired their second employee. Today they're 80+ people across both countries.

That's Chemistry First in action.

WHAT I DO NOW:
- Fractional Talent Partner: Your embedded Head of Talent - without the £80k salary. Hiring strategy, full-cycle recruiting, candidate experience. For growing teams of 15-100 who need serious talent capability without a full-time hire.

- Starter Retainer Monthly strategy: The bridge between DIY hiring and full talent support. For bootstrapped teams of 5-20 scaling fast.

- Project Hiring: Chemistry First methodology for critical hires - first hires, leadership, founding team roles.

I work with founders in the UK and US. British-American dual citizen who understands both markets from the inside.

WHY "CHEMISTRY FIRST"?

Chemistry matters more than credentials. Every time.

46% of hires fail within 18 months. 89% of those failures? Not skills - chemistry. 
That's why I test for values alignment and team dynamics BEFORE anything else.
Result: 90%+ success rate.

12-month replacement guarantee. Most recruiters give you 3 months. I give you a year.

WHAT DRIVES ME:

In 2008, my 3-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer.

Watching him fight - and win - taught me what really matters when pressure's on. 

People who show up for each other. People who refuse to give up on the team.

He's thriving today. 

Now I'm raising £1 million for Young Lives vs Cancer. A portion of every HFBAC engagement supports families facing the same fight.

When you work with me, you're not just building your team - you're part of something bigger.

LET'S CONNECT:
Growing a team? Let's talk → hfbac.com

Recruitment Strategic Partner | SME Recruitment Growth Specialist | CEO

There is an easier way to recruit and nurture new staff. Your People Partners can do it for you.

As a business owner responsible for every aspect of your company, knowing how to save time and money hiring your next member of staff is rather useful!

Would you love an easy, cost effective and efficient service to help you spend more time on the business and not just in it as you go about recruiting your next member of staff?

Good news.

You don't need to use a recruiter in the traditional sense.

I am Helen Sanders. And I head up a talented team of talent acquisition specialists who are Your People Partners.

You can use my 22 years (!) recruitment expertise in helping business owners like you to save time, save money, cut the risk of poor hires and remove the stress of the recruitment process.

Did I mention we are not an 'agency'?

If we work together, we're partners. We work together to make sure you hire well and your team can grow to meet your vision and better support your clients/customers.

Done-With-You:
We stand by you, jump in when you need, we guide and do the bits you cannot do, and you learn how to be really awesome at hiring. No, we're not trying to make you into a recruiter. Being a business owner who hires well can make or break your business. 

Done-As-You:
We are your in-house team. We ensure all people in touch with your company have an awesome experience of you, the business owner as well as your company. Given our partners (companies like yours) are between 3 and 50 staff, we know that you're competing for the talent you need.

All this for the same cost, or sometimes less, than a 'normal' recruitment agency.

Call me now on 0117 290 0208 for a chat about how we can take the stress out of your next hire, as well as support your growing team with all things 'people' and talent-related.

Virgin Red

Responsible for managing a team of 3 direct reports, overseeing their daily tasks, performance, and development. I also handle the day-to-day operations of the Digital Inventory, ensuring it is well-maintained and accurate across all platforms. 
Working as part of the Marketing and Campaign Delivery teams, I help coordinate and deliver digital rewards, streamline processes, and support successful campaign rollouts. 
This role involves cross-functional communication, strategic planning, and ongoing performance monitoring to meet team and project objectives.

Digital Inventory Manager

As the Senior Rewards Operations Executive, I manage the day to day Inventory operations working closely with the partnership managers, digital marketing, Marketing and content teams.  On a daily basis, I manage the Content Marketing Executives so that our offers are brought to life on the app and website. Within this role, I liaise with the teams to assist in the campaign set up using Eagle Eye and Airtable. In this role, I also Integrate company-wide inventory-related requests into the overall workflow, ensuring consistency and continuity as well as create and maintain operational documents for the inventory process and the addition of any new partner/member journeys as and when required. It is important that I ensure all content follows our strategy, objectives, brand and tone of voice and optimised over time to improve conversions. A key part of my role is to also build a trusting number of key relationships within Virgin Red and externally.

Senior Rewards Operations Executive

Virgin Red is a Virgin start-up conceived and soft-launched in the UK during 2015; and formally launching to the UK public in June 2016. 

Functioning as a Virgin Group membership rewards program, Virgin Red is a multi-channel proposition that encourages existing and potential customers of the Virgin brands (VCos) to “Live a life more Virgin"

Virgin Red brings together the best of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles, Virgin.com and Virgin Red to create a new membership and loyalty offering for Virgin customers.

Initially, I started my journey with the Member support team in June 2020 and in April 2021, I was promoted into a hybrid role with both the member support team and the inventory team as their Rewards Executive. 

I work on the Rewards and Inventory team working closely with the partnership managers, content teams and alongside the Rewards Operations Manager and Content Marketing Executives so that our offers are brought to life on the app and website. Within this role, I liaise with the teams to assist in the campaign set up using Eagle Eye and Airtable. I also manage the sprint tracker to ensure that all campaigns meet the timescales and liaise with the Partnership Managers.
As this is a hybrid role, I also work alongside member support and the Virgin Management team to provide social media moderation support, team lead duties as well as provide coaching development support for the current member support team and any new starters joining the team.

Rewards Executive

Freelance, self-employed

I am an experienced freelance, 360 recruiter with a broad range of recruiting experience within many sectors.

I ensure that I work closely with clients and candidates based on their specific needs and circumstances as well as provide a consultative approach which allows me to build strong, long-lasting business relationships with both clients and candidates alike.

I enjoy all aspects of the recruitment process, especially the candidate resourcing side.

In 2016, I successfully completed the Certificate in Recruitment Practices via the Institute of Recruiters. 

Sectors that I recruit in:

Global Talent Acquisition
Sales and Customer Service
Healthcare and Medicine 
Aerospace and Aviation
Oil and Gas
Construction
Digital and Tech
Rec to Rec
HR
Financial Services & Legal

Freelance Recruiter/Headhunter

Alexander Mann Solutions

Interim Contract.
Alexander Mann Solutions builds world-class talent and resourcing capability for some of the world’s leading companies, acting as a trusted adviser to deliver a range of innovative and measurable solutions through outsourcing and consultancy services.

Our outsourced services range in size and breadth from simple recruitment solutions for SMEs to complex, multinational talent and resourcing solutions for some of the world’s leading companies. We deliver graduate recruitment programs, permanent hires, contingent workforce management and executive recruitment.

Working as part of an interim contract within the Talent Acquisition team

Sourcing Specialist -  Talent Acquisition

Cobham

Interim Contract.
Cobham is a leading global technology and services innovator, respected for providing solutions to the most challenging problems, from deep space to the depths of the ocean. They employ more than 12,000 people on five continents, and have customers and partners in over 100 countries.

As a part of the preferred RPO provider for Cobham, I directly source for Cobham Mission Systems.

About Cobham Mission Systems
The most capable critical control solutions for extreme environments.

As the world’s leading supplier of critical control solutions, we help our customers to increase the safety and mission capabilities of their personnel and equipment in extreme environments.

Our proven and trusted solutions in air-to-air refuelling, life support, weapons carriage and unmanned systems, deliver assured performance and class-leading through-life costs that enable our customers to bring complex projects to market quickly, and with minimal risk.

Sourcing Specialist at Cobham

3 month Interim Contract.
Alexander Mann Solutions builds world-class talent and resourcing capability for some of the world’s leading companies, acting as a trusted adviser to deliver a range of innovative and measurable solutions through outsourcing and consultancy services.

Our outsourced services range in size and breadth from simple recruitment solutions for SMEs to complex, multinational talent and resourcing solutions for some of the world’s leading companies. We deliver graduate recruitment programs, permanent hires, contingent workforce management and executive recruitment.

Working as part of a 3 month interim contract within the Talent Acquisition team, my focus is on the recruitment of Tech and Digital recruiters on behalf of HSBC for their exciting new Tech/Digital project.

Resourcing Specialist - Talent Acquisition

Your People Partners (Part of WingroveTailored Ltd)

Alongside my own business, I also work alongside the team at Wingrove Tailored as their Principal Consultant and Headhunter. I manage the Candidate side of the business allowing the Director, Helen, to build and develop her business and client relationships.

Principal Consultant

Working alongside Helen Sanders and the team, as the lead Recruitment Consultant,  I will be responsible for all aspects of the recruitment process.

Wingrove Tailored exists to be Your People Partner.

Yes, we’re recruiters but we are so much more.

Many of the business owners we work with feel we are a part of their company. We get to know exactly how you like to work, what makes you tick, what frustrates you, and the same for your team.


Wingrove Tailored has helped take one UK based small business from 2 to 32 employees in just under 3 years and supported numerous other entrepreneurs and business owners to shape their business in a far more strategic way with enhanced recruitment processes in place to ensure all new staff are right for their business now and for the future.

We know how to qualify and get the right people through your door.

Whether you’re looking for a Sales Consultant, Administrator, Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Assistant, Social Media Manager, Operations Director or even a new Finance Clerk, we will take all the pain and stress away for you.

We formulate the strategy to hire these people for you, making sure they really will make the tea without being asked (just like the rest of your team), that they really are excited about where your business is heading and they want to be a part of it, and that this is not just another job to them.

Lead Recruitment Consultant

Recruit for Spouses

Recruitment Development Lead for Recruit for Spouses, covering the whole of the U.K. We recruit military spouses and ex military personnel and aim to bridge the gap between the military and businesses by tapping into a wealth of human resources. 

As Recruitment Development Lead, I am now responsible for implementing recruitment processes, with responsibility for the recruitment team. I am also responsible for ensuring that I also manage  the whole 360 recruitment cycle and very much looking forward to helping the team at Recruit for Spouses develop further.

Recruitment Development Lead

Employment Specialists Ltd

I am responsible for the client/candidate liaison within the Insurance and financial services sectors. I manage the full recruitment life cycle and am keen to promote Employment Specialists throughout these sectors. Always seeking quality candidates within these sectors for our clients within Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex.

Recruitment Consultant

2S Recruitment

Using my previous recruiting knowledge and knowledge gained from working within healthcare, I have joined 2S Recruitment in the recruitment of Managers and Nurses for Nottingham and Derbyshire. I am proud to be part of the 2S team and can truely say I enjoy every part of my job, from the highs to the lows. I pride myself on ensuring all my candidates are thoroughly screened and matched to the clients needs and requirements.

Associate Consultant

Domus Recruitment - UK Care & Healthcare Specialists

Associate Recruitment Consultant specialising in the recruitment of healthcare professionals. I will be covering the North West regions. for Domus Recruitment

Specialities: Loyalty Rewards, Digital Inventory, Operations, Processes, Digital Marketing and Content, Recruitment, Headhunting, Resourcing, Healthcare, Commercial , Account Management, IT, Defence and Space, Social Media Moderation, Coaching and Development, New Starter Onboarding.

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Helen Sanders

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