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A County Durham recruitment agency that began life in lockdown is building for the future on the back of a five-figure investment.

Elvet Recruitment began trading on January 4 this year 鈥� the day on which the third national lockdown was announced 鈥� but has gone on to smash its first year revenue targets within six months.

The company, which specialises in recruitment for the built environment and construction sectors, was founded by Stephen Phillips and Michael Dufferwiel, who had previously worked together in the regional office of a leading recruitment firm but decided last year to launch their own firm.

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After working with regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers to secure the 拢30,000 North East Small Loan Fund investment, the business has now taken on its first employee and doubled the size of its city offices.

Five further new jobs are expected to be created as the business grows over the next 12 to 18 months.

Elvet is primarily focused on businesses and projects within the North East, but it is also working with clients in Yorkshire and the North West, and is aiming to further enhance its presence in both locations.

Mr Phillips said: 鈥淭he construction sector has come out of the pandemic in better shape than most and there鈥檚 huge demand for skilled and experienced construction professionals in a wide range of roles across the built environment.

鈥淒espite the wider situation, we had confidence in the construction sector鈥檚 ability to bounce back, and even though the country went into a further lockdown on the very day we opened our doors, the support of clients enabled us to quickly establish ourselves as a recruiter of choice.

鈥淲e set ourselves some pretty stiff initial targets and didn鈥檛 expect to be taking on our first employee until next year at the earliest, but having made far faster progress than even we鈥檇 hoped, it seems like the right moment to try to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there.

鈥淲hile the North East will remain our primary focus for now, we鈥檙e already building an extended client base outside the region too and will be directing resources towards Yorkshire and the North West to further build on the progress we have already made in those areas.

鈥淣EL鈥檚 backing for our growth plans has given us even greater confidence that we鈥檙e on the right track, their funding model fit well with our needs and the team helped keep the application process running very smoothly.鈥�

Abigail Cook, investment associate at NEL Fund Managers, added: 鈥淪tephen and Michael have made really impressive progress in just a few short months, and with the construction industry鈥檚 prospects look very strong, their plans to build on what they鈥檝e achieved so far made a compelling case for investment.鈥�

Part of the 拢120m North East Fund and aimed predominantly at smaller SMEs, the 拢9m North East Small Loan Fund typically offers loans of between 拢10,000 and 拢100,000 to businesses in Tyne & Wear, Durham and Northumberland. It is designed to assist with the creation of over 1,200 new regional jobs in more than 320 SMEs over the life of the fund.