Orchard roots in Southampton

A brand-new recruitment consultancy has signed up to workspace at Ocean Village Innovation Centre (OVIC) in Southampton.

Orchard Recruiting is the latest firm to put down roots at the thriving business centre, home to 55 businesses.

The consultancy is focusing on commercial jobs – temporary and permanent – for employers and job seekers, including office administrators, finance, accountancy, marketing and human resources.

Industry experience

Lisa Orchard, owner and Managing Director, decided to go it alone after 30 years’ experience in the recruitment industry.

She said: “I’d been on furlough with a previous employer and subsequently worked for a company covering a busy industrial and commercial desk.

“I then decided that the time was right in my early fifties to start out on my own.

“I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things which in my previous work life would have been done by colleagues with various remits.

“Happy place”

“What running a business makes you realise is that you are stronger than you think. In many ways I wish I had taken the leap 10 years ago.”

She added: “I chose OVIC because I have worked here in the past – the customer service team cannot do enough for you and the surroundings are lovely, as are the fellow occupiers. It is a happy place.”

Stephen Deller, OVIC’s Centre Manager, said: “Lisa is sensibly starting out in a shared office, enabling her to keep costs down whilst growing Orchard Recruitment and freeing her up to focus on what she does best.

Ecosystem of companies

“This is the first time that we have had such a newly established company in through the doors and we look forward to helping Orchard take root through the great ecosystem of companies, and their customers, that we have here.

“We anticipate releasing more good news about occupancy – the pipeline of workspace enquiries is strong.”

Other recruitment consultancies which have moved into OVIC recently, covering different fields, are SNG Healthcare and MCR, which specialises in the residential development sector. According to official figures, job vacancies in the UK, which has 5.6 million businesses, rose to record 1.25 million in October to December, a rise of 462,000 prior to the pandemic.

Serviced offices

OVIC, which has 67 serviced offices and meeting rooms over 30,000 sq ft, is operated by Oxford Innovation on behalf of the building’s private owner.

Oxford Innovation, which manages a growing network of centres across the UK, also runs a similar business hub – Fareham Innovation Centre, overlooking Solent Airport at Lee-on-the-Solent.