Astute Recruitment has started the year by launching a brand new website alongside a complete re-brand of their business. The website was previewed by friends of the business at the end of last year, during a celebration evening of Astute Recruitment’s success over the past six years at the Derbyshire County Cricket Club.

The new website and brand aim to showcase the bespoke services Astute Recruitment offer, and highlight testimonials from leading businesses including: Weleda, 3AAA, Smith Cooper and Botham Accountancy.

Mary Maguire managing director at Astute Recruitment said: “Sarah Stevenson and I launched Astute at the end of 2009 in the height of the recession after facing redundancy. It was tough initially – as people who had always had a guaranteed salary each month, to go from that to the uncertainty of relying on cash flow to pay ourselves and our staff caused a few sleepless nights! However we are really proud of the fact that six years on we remain 100 per cent owners of our business and have not diluted our ownership.”

“Many long-standing clients were delighted to use us again and we were also able to capture new businesses who have not used us previously,” she continued. “The definition of Astute is the ability to accurately assess situations and I think that’s a great description of what we do every day!”

Last year Astute director, Sarah Stevenson, secured the Entrepreneur of the Year accolade at the Derbyshire Times Business Awards 2015, a prestigious event attended by over 200 professionals from the region. 2015 also saw Astute being shortlisted for a number of awards, including Sarah receiving the SME Business Director of the Year in the Small Business category at the Institute of Directors (IoD) East Midlands Director of the Year Awards 2015.

Simon Gray, the firm’s non-executive director said: “Both Sarah and Mary have worked hard to make Astute stand out from its competitors. They understand the requirements of SMEs. Through the rebrand they are communicating a different message to the market, and their journey is something I’m very proud to be a part of.”

Article originally published in The Global Recruiter