The UK Legal market was evolving when Hydrogen first entered, and companies were increasingly seeing value in building robust in-house teams that would understand their business and save them money on external counsel. As we already had an impressive network of candidates through our Private Practice team, we were ideally placed to expand into the in-house market. Our clients were relying on job boards to find talent and, at that time, there was also a negative perception with in-house roles that the more complex work was outsourced to law firms. Part of our challenge in becoming a one-stop shop for clients was selling the in-house option to our candidates, which we did by fostering our long-term relationships.

Today, technology is providing more options than ever for legal candidates, who in turn are in high demand amidst fierce competition among employers. The tech giants are also taking away a significant volume of in-house applicants from companies, who are having to work harder than ever to secure the top talent. Niche skillsets still cannot be sourced by internal recruiters and many agencies, so our service is more important than ever, particularly with our associated initiatives for clients, such as interview technique advice and promoting flexible working.

Our collaborative approach with both our clients and our candidates means that very often the successful legal teams we have helped to build later go on to become our clients. With candidates, because we understand their career aspirations and motivations, we are able to give them deep insight into a role, the team they would join and the business itself, bringing the opportunity to life and moving their careers forward.