The market is shifting, the sun is out, and Giig has officially had its best week ever.

In this episode, we are cutting through the typical industry doom and gloom to share some massive updates on the Giig platform. We break down our new integration strategy, the reality of speaking on tech panels, and why you need to stop getting distracted by shiny new AI tools and start fixing your actual bottlenecks.

(We also spend a concerning amount of time aggressively reviewing the Paranormal Activity stage play and debating our survival tactics in the Cars universe).

In this episode, we cover:

• 📈 The Best Week Ever: Why we are ignoring the negative timeline, staying optimistic, and how the recent surge in sign-ups points to a positive shift in the recruitment market.

• 🎤 Getting "Overflashed": The reality of representing Giig on a recruitment tech panel, getting introduced to the room as a "terrible salesman," and the simple truth about automating your review process.

• 🤝 Major Giig Integrations: We announce our upcoming integration with Shazamme for recruitment websites, a massive new job board aggregator tool, and explain why we are officially retiring our own website builder to focus purely on making the CRM world-class.

• 🍿 Lee’s Lunchbox: The ultimate movie survival question. If you had to survive in one cinematic universe for a year, are you picking life as a moped in Cars, mining with the Dwarves in Lord of the Rings, or drinking butternut squash beer at Hogwarts?

This episode is a shocker... (Literally).... Thanks to Stewart's very kind gift that 1000 volts through you... Apart from getting a physical shock, one of the most mind blowing facts from todays conversation is that Stewart is the proud owner of 700 Star Wars figures! (Mental Right)In this episode, we sit down with Stuart Roberts, the founder of MAYACHI Advisory and a 25-year veteran of recruitment finance. Stewart is the ultimate "Fractional CFO" for scaling agencies, that need a steady hand on the numbers. Alongside all of the usual waffle there's some serious value adding stuff in here as Stewart explains exactly why relying on a standard accountant or automated software to manage your books could be costing you tens of thousands of pounds in tax every single year.We dive deep into the real "survival math" of running a desk, discussing exactly what it takes to build an agency you can actually sell, why you should probably sack yourself based on your current KPI output, and the brutal reality of the post-exit identity crisis.But it’s not all spreadsheets and P&Ls. We also discover that Stuart owns over 700 Star Wars action figures, regularly wakes up at the end of the train line in Cambridge after networking.In this episode, we cover:The £22k Mistake: How Stuart saved an agency £22,000 in corporation tax simply by adjusting how they accounted for future commission payouts.The 65% Client Churn: The simple (but terrifying) retention exercise you need to run on your client list right now to see if your business is actually growing or just treading water.Building to Sell: Why perm-only agencies are almost impossible to sell, and the exact steps you need to take to build a replicable, process-driven business that buyers actually want.The Post-Exit Crash: Stewart opens up about the severe mental health toll and identity crisis that hit him after he successfully sold his 120-agency back-office business.The Offshore Advantage: Why more and more UK agencies are outsourcing their resourcing to South Africa and the Philippines, and how to actually make it work.Lee’s Lunchbox: Stewart answers a tough question about when to double down, diversify, or pivot entirely when the recruitment market tightens.If you want to know how to structure your business for an exit, optimise your taxes, and avoid falling asleep standing up in a kebab shop, this is the one for you!

What happens when you mix recruitment updates, middle aged medical exams, and the invention of a new Winter Olympic sport?

You get this weeks episode of Giig It A Rest,

This week, it's back to the two of us, sitting down to catch up on everything from the realities of tracking your numbers in the new Giig reporting module, to the absolute chaos of accidentally launching yourself off the side of a ski slope in a whiteout.

Andy explains why he has started shamelessly stealing my old LinkedIn posts (and why it’s actually working), while I gets brutally honest about my "marginal decline".

Plus, we open "Lee’s Lunchbox" to answer a crucial question: If you could invent a new Winter Olympic sport, what would it be?

In this episode, we cover:

• 📱 The "Disconnect" of Social Media: Why Andy is scheduling Luke's old posts, and the psychology behind the fear of putting yourself out there.

• 🏥 The Reality of "Marginal Decline": Luke's hilarious (and slightly grim) journey through the NHS, involving samples, blood tests, and why you shouldn't ignore your health just to "crack on."

• 📈 The Giig Reports Launch: Behind the scenes of pushing the new Reporting Dashboard live, scaling the database for 600,000+ candidates, and why tracking your pipeline is the most important thing you can do for your desk.

• ⛷️ "Squint Racing": The boys reveal their self-invented Winter Olympic sport, the tactical advantage of the slipstream, and the time Luke accidentally led a family of four off a cliff.

• 🥚 The Great "Creme Egg" Debate: A very serious discussion on the spelling and pronunciation of Easter’s greatest chocolate.

Whether you are here for the software updates, the outbound networking advice, or just to hear two blokes talk about clinging-filming a dinghy, this one has it all.

Do you really know what you're paying your IT Support MSP for ?This week we have the ultimate 'Kan Do It' guy - 'Kan Mallawathantri' from Avensys tech who's all about educating small agencies on the realities of IT Support. It was nice to chat with someone who gets rid of the waffle and gets straight to the reality. How exactly are small agencies are being ripped off by duplicate software licenses, hidden fees, and "Cowboy" IT providers who sell you protection you don't need (and disappear when you actually need their support).Obviously we also cover off his personal journey from moving to the UK from Sri Lanka and navigating the brutal culture shock of British slang, to why he's decided to take back control of his personal brand on LinkedIn.(And as per, things get weird. This is the first Giig It A Rest episode to feature fancy dress).

In this episode, we cover:- The £45k Mistake: How Kan saved a recruitment agency £45,000 a year in duplicated software licences - The Dark Web Economy: Why hackers are actively targeting small businesses and even hold your personal data.- The "Culture Shock" of the UK: Kan’s stories of learning British lingo, navigating the M25, and why you should be careful using the phrase "riding up my a**".- Taking Back LinkedIn: The origin story behind Kan’s LinkedIn characters and why he refuses to do "stuffy" corporate marketing.

- Lee’s Lunchbox: The first ever time we've dressed up for Lee's Lunchbox.If you run a recruitment agency and know you're neglecting your IT support, there's some gold in this one for you! Enjoy x

What wish came true when you met the person next to you?

That is the Lee's Lunchbox question for this week, and I must say, I was close to tears when Andy revealed the wish that came true when it met me...

After what seems like a couple of weeks of guest episodes, we're back to the pair of us putting the world to rights by chatting about:

- Andy's sleepwalking

- Our struggles with getting the reporting module out

- Andy's invite to join a panel

- Finding out what wish came true when we met each other!

Enjoy x

Another Week, Another Amazing Guest!

Jo Major from 'Diversity In Recruitment' spent some time with us to chat all things.. You guessed it....

Diversity and Inclusion..

I feel like the topic of Diversity can sometimes divide opinion...

I feel like people assume that Diversity & Inclusion consultants will be a preachy, academic expert that scolds people from an ivory tower.

Jo however, breaks that mould... She comes across as someone who's truly genuine and has been in the trenches herself, made all the "toxic" mistakes first hand, and is now trying to have a positive impact on making the recruitment industry more inclusive.

She also brought us matching T-Shirts.. So what's not to love!!

Here are some of my Highlights from the conversion:

Her Regrets: Jo opens up about the mistakes she's made in the past.. Judging staff on their clothes, forcing them to wear heels, and how's she's patched her mistakes in later life.

Reclaiming "Woke": Why she's gone bold with the tagline "Woke AF" wearing it as a badge of honour, and why being "awake" to inequality will make a commercial impact, not just a moral one.

The "Pale, Male & Stale" Debate: Jo argues against using derogatory terms for white men, explaining why alienation hurts the D&I cause.

The Maternity Conundrum: Why in Recruitment women can be seen as "Top Billers" one day and "part-time problems" the next.

Illegal Hiring: How positive discrimination can have a negative impact and offering "Double Fees" for diverse candidates is actually against the Equality Act.

Embarrassing Stories: It wouldn't be a 'Giig It A Rest' episode without something a little embarrassing. Jo recalls the time her sister shared an embarrassing story at her wedding and how embarrassing stories bring us closer together.

Enjoy x

First time this year that we've had James (Samwise) on the pod and I got so excited about it that I forgot to get the camera rolling, so for the first 2 minutes of this Ep you're without the video...

As I was back in Essex looking after my parents cat, I thought why not take the chance to get James on the pod to prod him a bit and see what he thinks this year is going to look like for Giig!

Before getting to into the weeds with the work chat, we spend some time talking about his Girls, illness, his ambitions for 2026, including his goals with the Olympics...

James has voiced his opinion that the 'Lee's Lunchbox' questions have lacked a bit of decorum... So this week I chucked one in there that really got him opening up about the biggest regret he's made in business..

Enjoy x

If one of your clients has slipped a candidate into their business through the backdoor, without you knowing..

There's only one person you need to call...

Backdoor Barry..

Or I should probably say 'Barry Cullen' from RecLAW...

To give you the spiel RecLAW are Lawyers to the recruitment industry, a full-service law firm made up of lawyers who are recruitment experts and passionate about the industry,.

My guess would be that if you've been around recruitment for a while you will probably be aware of RecLAW and Barry...

This weeks episode has everything!

From Barry's journey, to some of the craziest situations he's come across and even a little bit of free legal advice.. but even if you're not involved in the recruitment industries you should stick around for the stories because there's some belters in there....

Enjoy x