The Manchester Recruitment Leader Experience 2026: Reflect. Reset. Rise
About this Event
The end of the year is coming. Make it count.
2026 has been a year. For some, a breakthrough. For others, a grind. For most, a bit of both.
Before you step into 2027, it's worth stopping. Taking stock of what worked, what didn't, and what you're going to do differently that will move the dial during the 2026 run-in and set the tome for next.
That's what this event is for.
What to expect
A half-day of honest conversation, practical insight, and genuine connection - designed specifically for recruitment agency owners, directors, and future leaders who want to finish 2026 strong and hit the ground running in 2027.
Held at JMW Solicitors' swanky new office in Manchester, this is a focused, collaborative session covering the things that actually move the needle: technology, data, marketing, high performance, and sales.
On the agenda
Legal: an update on what's happened and what's next with Labour's changes and more
Tech: what's working, what's overhyped, and where to invest your attention in 2027
Marketing: how AI search (LLM) is reshaping how we must view our company website
Data: Leadership is built
Revenue: creating a robust recruitment businesss through recurring revenue
Who should attend
SME secruitment agency owners and directors ready to reflect on 2026 and set a clear course for 2027. Future leaders who want to be in the room where the real conversations happen.
As always, this event will conclude with networking drinks.
Thanks to Keybridge IT Solutions and Shazamme for sponosoring.
Paul Chamberlain, Head of Employment and People Solutions - Specialist Recruitment Lawyer
I provide solid, pragmatic and effective legal advice to employers, recruitment agencies, employees and workers in relation to the world of work.
Talk Title: What's Happening with the Employer Rights Act 2025?
The ERA 2025 is a major UK law passed on December 18, 2025. It changes rules for workers and bosses by ending zero-hours tricks, stopping fire-and-rehire practices, and updating family leave
Paul will summarise progress of the ERA 2025 and the consultations that are live/have finished (especially that on zero/guaranteed hours)?
Plus:
- Unfair Dismissal: Cuts the wait time to claim unfair dismissal from two years down to six months, starting in 2027.
- Day-One Rights: Makes parental and paternity leave available from day one on the job.
- Fair Work: Sets up a new Fair Work Agency to enforce labor rules.
- Trade Unions: Removes old strike hurdles and gives unions better workplace access
Nicole Clark, CEO, Shazamme
After 15 years in recruitment technology, Nicole got tired of watching agencies get held back by clunky websites and disconnected systems - so she built Shazamme. Beyond the platform itself, she's built an ecosystem spanning integrations, marketing automation and performance analytics, connecting the tools recruitment firms rely on into one working system. She now speaks regularly on AI, search and the future of recruitment technology, helping agencies modernise before outdated systems start costing them visibility and trust.
Talk Title - Adapt or Vanish - The New Rules of Recruitment Marketing in the AI Era
- Why AI search is rewriting the rules of recruitment marketing - and what happens to agencies that don't keep up
- How ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot are reshaping the way candidates and clients discover recruitment agencies
- SEO, AEO and GEO explained - and why treating them as the same thing is holding you back
- Practical steps to get your website read, understood and recommended by LLMs, including the sector pages, location pages, structured FAQs and LLM Info Pages most agencies still don't have
- How long-tail, conversational prompts are replacing traditional search behaviour among candidates and clients
- The trust signals AI models look for: reviews, fresh content, credible proof - and how to build them in
- The website mistakes quietly undermining your visibility, and how to fix them
- A practical framework for future-proofing your recruitment marketing
Dan Jones, Founder, Kaizen SEO
10+ years in SEO for recruiters, several before that as a recruiter. The only UK recruitment SEO specialist who's actually placed candidates on a recruitment desk. Built KaizenIQ, a recruitment-specific AI search platform, because the generic tools don't understand the sector
Talk title: Why Your Best Clients Will Never Find You Again
A direct look at how search has changed in 2026, what's coming in 2027, and what every agency in the room can do about it - without a big budget or a technical team.
Format: 30-minute talk. Practical, data-led. Written for founders of agencies with 1–20 heads.
What I'll cover:
- How search has shifted in 2026 - Google AI Overviews now appear on 48% of queries, ChatGPT and Perplexity are entering recruitment workflows, and most agencies haven't noticed what that means for their visibility
- The four lies the SEO industry is selling recruitment agencies right now - and why most are quietly burning budget on them
- A 2027 outlook on agentic search, AI browsers, brand mentions overtaking backlinks, and where the real advantage lies for micro-agencies
- Five questions every founder can answer on Monday morning to audit their own visibility - no tools, no agency required
- A recruitment-specific lens throughout. I worked a desk before I worked search.
What you'll leave with:
- A printed audit sheet you can use straight away
- Clarity on where to invest and where to stop wasting money
- Three concrete shifts you can make in the next 90 days
- An optional paid next step if you want to go deeper
Catherine Henderson, Fractional CMO, Boudicca Consulting
With nearly 25 years in marketing - 16 specialising in recruitment - Catherine builds embedded, revenue-focused strategies that turn marketing into a genuine growth driver, not just a cost centre. Trusted by leadership teams, she's known for making the connection between marketing and the bottom line impossible to ignore.
Miles Lloyd, Strategic Advisor, Leadership Coach, NorthStar People
With over two decades helping recruitment leaders build profitable, sustainable businesses, Miles works as NED, Business Mentor, Strategic Advisor, Fractional CCO and Interim CEO - drawing on strategy, performance, proposition, growth, leadership and inclusive hiring to turn ambition into serious commercial results. His mission: leaders becoming their best, and businesses achieving serious, lasting success.
Talk Title: A Practical Guide to Building Predictable Revenue in Your Recruitment Business (and wean off contingency!)
Contingency recruitment is under more pressure than ever - from commoditisation, market volatility, and an AI-driven race to the bottom on fees. Most agency leaders know the model needs to evolve. What's missing is a practical, structured path to doing it.
In this hands-on 30-minute session, we'll be guided through a live Recurring Revenue Readiness Test - a real-time scoring exercise that reveals exactly where your business is exposed and what a more resilient, recurring revenue model could look like for you.
You'll leave with handy takeaways, your score, and a clear picture of what the alternative model could look like for you.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 22.38 to GBP 27.80
