Harrogate recruitment industry pioneer calls it a day – to tour with DJ son

Geraldine Hoy set up her boutique agency, which was based on Victoria Avenue, in 1990. She specialised in finding candidates for permanent positions and says she must have placed many hundreds of people over the decades.

She told this newspaper: “I started in recruitment back in the late 1980s with KPR Recruitment, a London-based franchise operation run through Tait’s College in Harrogate. When that agency closed, I decided to open my own.

“As a small agency we would take calls right into the evening. We couldn’t compete on size, but we could on dedication! And it paid off. Placing someone as a salesperson and then seeing them go on to become managing director, it feels as though you’ve been an important link in their lives.”

Mrs Hoy, who spent some of her early years travelling the world with her rock musician husband Tom, will now go back on the road with him and son Rory, who is a successful DJ.

She added: “It was the right time to close the agency, but it’s the not the end – now I’m helping Rory, I’ve come full circle.”