You Can’t Automate Trust, and Recruitment Runs on Trust – Guy Last

In the 11th episode of the Humans of Recruiterflow series, we bring you the story of Guy Last — founder of Guy Last Recruitment — a man who didn’t step into recruitment with a plan, but with nothing but conviction.

No playbook. No team. No safety net, just a quiet urgency to solve a problem no one else was solving — and the willingness to build the plane midair.

Guy wasn’t looking for a new career. He was coming off a decade in Dubai’s real estate trenches, leading large teams and watching the same problem play out over and over: companies were desperate for international talent, but no one was connecting the dots.

“I didn’t know recruitment, but I knew what it felt like to move your life across the world for a job. I knew how high the stakes were.”

That knowing became his compass. He didn’t have a business model — just belief. So, from a spare room in the UK, with no office, no hires, and zero recruitment experience, Guy started matching professionals with life-changing roles in Dubai. One placement at a time. One relationship at a time.

Over the years, he placed more than a thousand people, not through scale, but through care.

Then the world shut down.

COVID hit hard. Hiring froze. Budgets disappeared overnight. Guy had a choice: pause and protect what he had, or risk changing everything. He chose to rebuild.

“That moment forced me to let go of what had worked. I had to listen harder, think faster, and trust that doing the right thing—even if it was new—would keep us going.”

He introduced a retained model. Clients paid a flat monthly fee, not per hire. It gave them predictability, and it gave his team the space to focus on quality. That pivot didn’t just save the business — it reshaped it.

By 2024, he knew it was time to be closer to the work again. Guy moved back to Dubai — not to start over, but to scale what he’d built from afar. He launched an embedded RPO model, placing full-time recruiters inside client teams, supported by data, systems, and a culture rooted in trust.

Now leading a team of over 40 people across multiple countries, Guy isn’t chasing growth for growth’s sake. His definition of success is quieter, more deliberate.

What Success Means to Guy

“Success isn’t hitting a number. If I can go home happy, knowing my team is proud, my clients are supported, and I can sit with my kids without my head still at work — that’s success. That’s what I’m building.”

Guy Last has built a recruitment agency that spans continents and serves dozens of clients, but for him, success has never been about size. It’s about creating a business that works in real life — one where people feel proud of what they do, and they can end each day with a clear head and time for what matters most.

His path has included reinvention, remote teams, and hard-earned lessons, but the goal has remained simple: to do good work, take care of people, and ensure the business feels as good as it looks.

The Hardest Part of Running a Recruitment Agency

“The hardest part of this job is managing expectations. Especially in recruitment, because so much is outside of your control.”

Guy has seen it all: clients thrilled one month and frustrated the next, candidates dropping out, offers rejected, ghosted interviews. It all falls back on the agency — and on him.

“We could place five people for a client in one month, and they’ll still ask for more. You smile, take a breath, and ask what else they need. That’s the job.”

But pressure doesn’t only come from the outside. Inside the agency, the weight of keeping the team motivated is just as real. Especially when things get tough — market dips, pipeline delays, or when results don’t reflect the effort put in.

“It’s not just about KPIs. It’s about making sure your people feel seen. That they know their work matters, even when outcomes fall through.”

That’s why Guy leads with transparency and calm. He brings in people who’ve experienced growth — people who know the ups and downs aren’t signs of failure, just part of the ride. And he makes space for the human side of pressure: conversations, patience, and support when it’s needed most.

KPIs That Build Trust

For Guy, KPIs aren’t about checking boxes — they’re about accountability and clarity.

“You can’t promise results in recruitment. But you can promise the right activity — and that builds credibility.”

Each month, clients receive two reports: one on recruiter activity and one on pipeline performance. Internally, these metrics also help identify where support is needed or where something’s breaking down.

Below are a few KPIs that are the backbone of his business:

1. Recruiter Activity

• Number of calls made
• WhatsApp and LinkedIn outreach volume
• Email engagement rates
• Daily/weekly contact volume, broken down by source
  

2. Pipeline Performance

• Number of candidates qualified
• Number submitted to clients
• Number approved by clients
• First interviews scheduled
• First interviews attended (vs. no-shows)
• Offers made and accepted
  

3. Conversion Health

• % of candidates moving from one stage to the next
  (e.g. from approved ? interviewed, from offer ? acceptance)
• Identification of red flags (e.g., high drop-off between interview and offer)
  

4. Client-Level KPIs

• Client satisfaction and retention
• Lifetime Value (LTV) of each client account
  (used by his Head of Agency to drive ongoing success)
  

By tracking what matters and cutting what doesn’t, Guy has built a performance culture rooted in transparency, not pressure. The result? A team that knows what good looks like, and clients who trust the process as much as the outcome.

AI Can’t Replace Recruiters — But It Can Make the Right Ones Unstoppable

Guy Last has never been one to chase buzzwords. He built his agency the old-fashioned way — through trust, consistency, and honest conversations. But he’s not stuck in the past either. As the recruitment world shifts toward automation and AI-driven tools, Guy isn’t resisting the change — he’s studying it, testing it, and adopting it where it makes sense.

“AI isn’t a threat. But it’s not a magic button either. It still needs a driver — someone who understands the human side of hiring.”

He’s clear: recruitment, at its core, is about people. About life-changing moves, difficult decisions, and conversations that go beyond data points. No algorithm can replicate that. But what AI can do — and already is doing — is take the heavy lifting off recruiters’ backs.

In his agency, automation handles repetitive tasks, including email sequences, data entry, outreach tracking, and workflow updates. AI helps surface patterns, optimize outreach, and reduce time-to-screen. But the decisions? The relationships? The trust? That still rests with people.

“Technology helps us scale. But trust keeps us in business.”

Guy’s seen two types of recruiters emerge in this new era: those who embrace AI as a tool and grow with it, and those who ignore it and risk becoming replaceable. His team is leaning in. They use tools like Recruiterflow not just to track performance, but to bring transparency to their clients. They experiment with AI sourcing, but always pair it with a human eye.

He’s even planning to hire someone full-time to research and implement AI internally — not for show, but to stay ahead.

“The future belongs to the recruiters who know how to combine empathy with efficiency. That’s what clients want. That’s what candidates feel.”

For Guy, AI isn’t here to replace recruiters. It’s here to force better ones to rise — the ones who understand that hiring isn’t just a task. It’s a responsibility. And no software, no matter how smart, can do that alone.

Advice to fellow founders

Guy Last didn’t build his agency from a textbook. He built it from scratch through instinct, missteps, hard-earned lessons, and constant adaptation. So when he speaks to other founders, especially those just starting, his advice isn’t polished — it’s practical.

Here’s what he’d tell you, in his own words and mindset:

1. Go Narrow, Go Deep

“Don’t try to serve everyone. Find a niche and become the best in it.”

When Guy started, he didn’t target the recruitment. He focused on relocating real estate talent to Dubai — a path he’d personally walked. That clarity gave him an edge, even without recruitment experience. One narrow slice of the market is enough to build something meaningful — if you go deep enough.

2. Stay Lean as Long as You Can

“You don’t need a fancy office or a big team right away. Keep it simple and profitable.”

Guy ran lean for years — just enough team, just enough spend. That discipline helped him survive tough periods, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Founders often grow too fast, too soon. His advice: only scale what you can manage without stress.

3. Use Tech from Day One

“Even basic automations can save you hours and help you look more professional.”

Whether it’s outreach tools, CRMs, or scheduling workflows, early tech helps founders do more with less. Guy invested in tools like Recruiterflow early, not for flash, but for function. It helped him show up consistently for clients, even when he was still building behind the scenes.

4. Execute Fast — Don’t Overthink

“Most people see the opportunity. Fewer plan. Even fewer actually move.”

Guy believes speed matters. You’ll never have all the answers. Start small, test quickly, and learn in motion. His biggest wins came from acting early, not waiting for perfect timing.

5. Build Recurring Revenue, Not Just Placements

“Chasing one-off deals is exhausting. Retainers changed everything for us.”

During COVID, Guy switched to a flat-fee monthly model. It gave clients stability, and gave his agency breathing room. He believes recurring revenue is what allows recruitment businesses to grow calmly, with control and confidence.

6. Hire People Who’ve Seen Scale Before

“The people you hire early shape how far you go later.”

When Guy prepared to scale, he didn’t just hire recruiters — he hired people who had experienced hypergrowth firsthand. They brought systems, structure, and resilience to the team. Early leadership matters more than most people think.

7. Look Beyond Your Local Talent Pool

“The best person for the job might not live near your office. That’s okay.”

Guy built a remote-first business before it was cool. His team spans multiple countries. He advises new founders to look globally, not just for savings, but for talent, hunger, and perspective.

8. Never Stop Learning

“Even after nearly a decade, I still feel like I’m just getting started.”

Guy’s still curious. Still adapting. Still learning. And that, he says, is what keeps a founder grounded and open to what’s next. In recruitment, the moment you think you’ve ‘made it’ is often the moment you fall behind.

So if you’re starting
Don’t wait for the stars to align. Pick your space, stay lean, invest smart, move fast — and always, always listen to the problems no one else is solving. That’s how Guy started. And that’s how he still leads.

Guy didn’t set out to build an agency that spanned continents. He set out to solve a problem that mattered. Along the way, he built a business — but more importantly, he built trust, one conversation at a time.

His journey hasn’t followed a straight line. It’s been tested by change, shaped by challenge, and fueled by conviction. But through it all, one thing has stayed constant: his belief that recruitment, at its best, is deeply human.

If you’re a founder with a journey worth telling — the highs, the lows, the lessons — we’d love to hear from you. Write to us at sagrika@recruiterflow.com, and your story could be featured in the next episode of Humans of Recruiterflow.