Meet the Vanilla Recruitment team

I started Vanilla Recruitment in 2005 because I wanted to make a positive impact on people’s experience of recruitment. I’d worked for many years in high street recruitment companies in Northampton and Leicester, but I felt that many big agencies had lost the real reason why recruitment companies are of true value to clients and candidates.

By providing a more personal service tailored specifically to the unique customer’s needs, we create a recruitment experience where everyone benefits and feels both worthy and respected, and above all happy.

Our mission, vision and values are at the core of everything we do here at Vanilla. We pride ourselves on the quality of service we offer; developing strong relationships with candidates and clients. They also know we are different from other recruitment firms.

We want to work with people who share our values, so when you work with us these values form the basis of our hopefully long and successful partnership together. My team is extremely dedicated and it’s their passion to ‘get it right’ that gives us our unique recruitment service, our excellent customer retention rates, and our fantastic repeat business levels from clients and candidates.

You can contact me on 01858 898058 or email [email protected]

Hello, I’m Kate. I’m a Principal Consultant here at Vanilla and I joined the team back in 2013 with over 10 year’s recruitment experience. My area of recruitment expertise is Accountancy and Finance and I work with both temporary and permanent commercial roles as well as practice roles within accountancy firms. I recruit for qualified and non-qualified positions and the part of the job I really like is gaining a great understanding of what both my candidates and clients are seeking in order to ensure a great match.

I love to fully support recruiters and jobseekers in their search for the right people and the right roles for them. I pride myself on being very honest and supportive which matches up with the values that are at the heart of everything we do here at Vanilla.

If you’d like to read about my average week working at Vanilla Recruitment Agency, you can read my blog post ‘A week in the life of a recruitment consultant’ 

You can contact me on 01858 898058 or email [email protected]

I’m Jaimi and I specialise in permanent placements within our Office Division here at Vanilla. I joined the team back in 2018, but my recruitment journey began in 2015. I’ve worked for some of the biggest names in the industry, but finding Vanilla was a real turning point for me. It’s not just where I work – it’s my safe space, where I’ve grown, thrived, and truly felt at home. I’m a real people person at heart. Building long-term relationships is what drives me – whether that’s with clients or candidates.

I take pride in going the extra mile to understand people’s needs and love nothing more than seeing a successful placement turn into a lasting partnership. Many of the clients I work with have been with me for years, and there’s nothing better than watching their teams grow and evolve.

Vanilla puts people at the centre of everything we do, and that’s exactly why I joined – and why I’m still here. Helping people take the next step in their career and making a difference, even in small ways, is what recruitment is all about for me.

You can contact me on 07432 889671 or email [email protected].

I’m Jodie and I work within the Office Division here at Vanilla, specialising in Temporary placements. Working on temp vacancies is great for me because there’s so much variety in the roles I recruit for and I love working within such a fast-paced environment.

I started my recruitment career in 2016, having always had an interest in the sector and wanting to be in a job where I helped people in some way. All these years later I am still loving what I do! I’m a real people person which allows me to communicate and understand the needs of my candidates and clients as well as building and maintaining those relationships.

One of the things I love most about working at Vanilla is the friendly team environment, but I am also really passionate about our Vanilla values. I share these values and I believe they are so important within a business.

You can contact me on 01858 898 058 or email [email protected]

I’m Priya and I work within the HR and Marketing Divisions here at Vanilla, working on Temporary and Permanent placements. The variety of roles I work on makes each day exciting and keeps me motivated in the fast-paced world of recruitment. I pride myself on providing personalised guidance and support to candidates throughout the recruitment process to ensure a positive and engaging experience. I started my recruitment career in 2018, driven by a genuine interest in recruitment and a desire to help others. My ability to connect with people and truly understand the needs of both candidates and clients has allowed me to build lasting, meaningful relationships.

What I truly value about working at Vanilla is the supportive, team-oriented atmosphere and our values to build and maintain relationships.

You can contact me on 01858 898 058 or email [email protected]

Hi, I’m Kerrie, a Senior Recruitment Consultant at Vanilla Recruitment. I started my career in recruitment in 2021 working both the temporary and permanent market.

Helping people find their next career move is the most rewarding part of my job. The variation of each day, interacting with different companies and assisting individuals in securing their next roles, keeps my passion for the industry alive.

I love my job because it allows me to support people in their career journeys, which aligns perfectly with Vanilla Recruitment’s values of integrity, dedication, and excellence in providing personalised and impactful recruitment solutions.

You can contact me on 01858 898058 or email [email protected]

I’m the Operations and Finance Director here at Vanilla Recruitment, and I’ve been a part of Team Vanilla since 2008! I’m responsible for many things here at Vanilla HQ and make sure everything runs smoothly and efficiently, including overseeing our support team as well as being in charge of the accounts and payroll. It’s my job to be an expert with the figures and to make sure everyone gets paid on time, including suppliers, employees and all our temporary workers.

I joined Vanilla because of its excellent reputation, values, professionalism and fantastic service provided. It’s great to be a part of the Vanilla Family, and we all do so much to help and support one another that it really does feel like a family here.

You can contact me on 01858 898058 or email [email protected]

Hello, I’m Sarah. I joined Vanilla Recruitment in July 2014 and I’m the Candidate Experience Manager. Before I worked at Vanilla, I was actually a Vanilla temp and did an assignment with a local company. I was really impressed with the support and service I received from the team at Vanilla; it was clear that they value the candidates and clients that they work with. Naturally, when I was offered the chance to work permanently as part of the team, I jumped at the chance!

As the Candidate Experience Manager, I ensure that we provide an excellent service to every candidate who comes into contact with Vanilla Recruitment, through the consistent company-wide delivery of our Candidate Promise.

I love the job I do and being part of such a positive and committed team. Vanilla goes further than the normal recruitment agency; we actively engage with local events and care about the community we serve.

You can contact me on 01858 898058 or email [email protected]

My name is Nathan, I’m the Creative Director here at Vanilla Recruitment. I work alongside Eloise and Team Vanilla, working on marketing and brand management and helping to steer the overall direction of the company.

I create almost all the different ways that you’ll ‘see’ Vanilla out in the world. I’m responsible for the graphic design, emailers, banners, posters, flyers, leaflets, the web content and pretty much anything that has been ‘designed’ for Vanilla – so it’s fair to say I have many hats.

When I’m not wearing my Vanilla hat, I’m an illustrator, cartoonist, character and graphic designer and have been running my own business, Ant Creations since 2000. I also illustrate and help create and launch children’s books at nathanshelton.co.uk.