ICUR Recruitment and Sterning Group Australia announce merger
ICUR Recruitment and Sterning Group have announced their merging to form Sterning Media & Creative.
The announcement:
ICUR Recruitment and Sterning Group Australia have announced their merger, as Australia’s recruitment industry responds to a shift toward freelancing and small business ownership.
The merger brings together ICUR’s established market penetration and experience in Australia’s media, digital and creative recruitment sectors, with the fast-growing progressive business model of Sterning.
The new business is called Sterning Media & Creative.
Sterning Co-founder Belinda Kerr said its progressive business model fills a gap in the recruitment market by allowing recruiters to run their own specialist business under the Sterning Group umbrella.
“We developed the Sterning model in response to the global shift toward people wanting to run their own business,” said Ms Kerr.
“The freelancing boom is changing the way Australians work and the recruitment sector is no different.
“Recruiters tell us they want the freedom, flexibility and increased earning capacity of running their own business, but don’t want to manage the operations or finance side of the business – so we take care of that for them.”
Sterning Group Australia licensees run their own specialist recruitment business, with everything from digital marketing to back-end tech systems, databases and administration handled at a corporate level. The cost-effective model leverages economies of scale and group discounts that would otherwise be beyond the reach of a small business.
For a start-up operator, it also means a higher income. Sterning licensees keep the majority of their billings and spend less time on administration and more time working with clients and candidates.
Ms Kerr said the merger with established recruitment firm ICUR Recruitment, which she founded in 2001, is a natural progression for the company as both businesses shift toward meeting the needs and expectations of recruiters, candidates and clients.
“ICUR has been operating in Australia’s media, digital and creative recruitment sector for more than 15 years,” said Ms Kerr.
“But as Australia’s workforce shifts, we need to shift with it. The 9 to 5 regime just isn’t working for people anymore and as job flexibility becomes more of a priority, it’s important that business models reflect that shift.”
All existing ICUR recruiters are joining Sterning Media & Creative and all existing clients will continue dealing with the same staff.
A key difference is that clients will be dealing direct with the business owner, instead of an employee.
Former ICUR recruiter Charlie Nuthall says it’s clear that the Sterning model is the future of recruitment in Australia.
“It truly is win-win for everyone,” said Ms Nuthall. “I have the benefits of running my own business with all the support I need in the way of resources and systems. And clients get to deal directly with the business owner and decision maker, which saves a lot of time in the long run.”
Sterning Group Australia Co-founder Joseph Merz said after a strong start Sterning is set for further rapid growth with increasing interest from recruiters across an expanding range of industry sectors.
“In a little over 18 months we’ve grown from a start-up to a team of 12, with four –soon to be five – specialist divisions with offices in Sydney and Perth,” said Mr Merz.
Sterning licensees currently operate across the IT, Health, Sales and Engineering sectors, with plans for 10 more licensees by the end of 2016.
Source: Sterning media release
