A recruitment company founded by two Broadstairs friends a month before the covid pandemic restrictions hit has expanded to new premises in Canterbury to cater for a growing workforce.
ARTO Recruitment was founded by Elliot Payne and Lawrence Rose in February 2020.
The agency is designed to create recruitment roles in Kent, preventing the need for people to commute daily to London. ARTO specialises in placing leading talent in executive roles within the life sciences industry across Europe and the USA.
Since launching in 2020 the business has doubled in revenue in year two to £2m and has created 26 new jobs, many of them focused at new graduates due to strong relationships with universities and sponsoring Canterbury Rugby Club. Having moved offices six times to manage the growth of the team ARTO has now begun work on a permanent HQ in Canterbury city centre with a £500,000 investment to develop the building and create space for an additional 24 recruits.
Building work started on the Beer Cart Lane location in November and is expected to complete by the end of this month. The two floor building is being modernised and will include an onsite gym, podcast recording facilities, meeting rooms and collaborative work spaces.
Elliot and Lawrence have been best friends since the age of three and both moved to London to take roles in recruitment. But both returned to Thanet a few years later whilst continuing to commute on the 5am trains to the city.
The pair, who both have families in Thanet, decided they wanted to enjoy more time by the coast rather than commuting and so took the plunge to create ARTO.
Elliot said: “It’s fantastic to be putting our roots down in Canterbury and to be able to invest in a home for our team. We’re dedicated to creating highly skilled and well-paid jobs locally and this is the next step in our expansion.”
Lawrence added: “We’ re incredibly excited to be able to finally move in to Beer Cart Lane. It’s a huge investment for the business and one that will be transformational for both our business and our people.”
Around a third of ARTO staff come from Thanet.
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