I have had the pleasure of working with Rob now for a number of years both as a candidate and customer while looking for a number of roles. From both sides Rob and Apply are consummate professionals who as a candidate always keep you updated on the process, and as a customer spend a lot of time getting to know the business, understanding the role and more importantly providing a list of candidates that are a good fit for the role. Rob and his company are a must for any company looking to acquire the best candidates.

Tony Healy, CIO

I’ve worked with Rob for many years as both a candidate myself and an employer seeking differentiating employees to join my team. I would definitely recommend working with him in either capacity. His ability to really understand what you need from a future employee sees well beyond the role profile and produces excellent results both in terms of finding very experienced candidates and those who have great potential to grow into a role. Rob has also provided me with personal coaching over many years which has helped me to both understand and achieve my own career aspirations

Dr Nikki Clegg, CTO

Nikki was hugely supportive in assisting me with finding and applying for new opportunities. Despite a saturated market, she kept constant communication about progress of particular roles and was actively looking for positions suitable to me and my experience. I would highly recommend working with Apply Recruitment on finding your next role.

Barry O’Neill, Programme Manager

The recruitment sector seems to have a big gap between the best and the rest - so it is encouraging to work with someone like Rob Riley who is so clearly among the best. Why? - well because he operates at the relationship level taking a real interest in candidates and gaining an in depth understanding of his clients. Responsive and reliable, Rob clearly has a value set that sets his organisation apart, A pleasure to work with I have no hesitation in recommending Rob and Apply Recruitment.

Mike Gladwin, Head of IT

Rob is a huge asset to any company’s arsenal of recruitment resources and capability. He is a consummate professional, knows his market, listens to the client and is a pleasure to interact with. I would highly recommend Rob and his team to any prospective professional looking for a well thought through change and any organisation who needs a someone highly respected and connected in the market.

Geoff Watson, CTO

I was fortunate to have the pleasure of working with Rob and Nikki when I was previously the Head of Database Security at Barclays a few years ago. The roles I was looking to fill were never simple run of the mill roles and each one required a level of forethought that would provide me with the best candidate.

The process for finding candidates was to bring in multiple recruitment companies at the same time and pitch what was needed. Rob and Nikki always stayed back from the pack and listened whereas the foreground was full of noise, everyone vying for attention. I say this as what followed from Rob was a steady stream of candidates each worthy of a full interview versus a barrage of unsuitable CVs from those that didn’t take the time to fully understand what was truly being asked for. Solid interview worthy candidates were always what Rob provided.

Apply Recruitment take the time to listen to what is required in the role and have always helped guide me towards the best candidate that can complete exactly what is required rather than just looking at job titles. I can honestly say that I have never approached Rob with a simple task, and he has always delivered.

Because of this and the success I have had since continuing my relationship with Rob and Nikki at Apply is that I have no concerns when even my best employee leaves as I know that I’m going to start a new chapter with someone even better found by Rob and his team. The anxiety of worrying about the impact of a staff member leaving is simply replaced with the anticipation of what great things are now ahead of us because of the opportunities that Apply brings to the table.

On a personal note I have to say that Rob is very tenacious, extremely customer centric in his focus and someone I would regard as ‘the’ go to person in the North West when it comes to recruitment in our business sector.

Hammond Reddie, CTO

Rob delivers an exceptional personalised service and I have absolutely no reservations in recommending him. A quality service from start to finish presenting job description, target company vision, culture and power mapping as well as comprehensive company history and go forward business strategy. Rob retains regular communication with you throughout the selection process providing guidance and assurance.

Lee Delaney, VP Technology

We’ve got quality candidates and I can quite happily say they’re a team of individuals all with different skills and that’s testament really to the dedication of the Apply team to really understand what skills we have and what we need.

Karen Johnson, CIO