Trio of finance recruitment specialists to support mental health through new purpose-driven business

Three of Yorkshire’s most reputable and respected finance recruiters join forces to launch a new era of purpose-driven recruitment. Combining decades of experience, the trio aim to enhance and modernise the recruitment agency experience, while also placing social purpose at the heart of their business model.

Joe Ingham, Rachel Frankland and Javed Bobat have partnered to combine over 50 years of experience as accountancy and finance recruiters to create a new purpose-driven venture focusing on recruitment within the Yorkshire accountancy and finance market.

IFF Talent, which officially launched this week, is on a mission to go ‘beyond recruitment’ – the firm’s slogan reflecting the founders’ ambitions to raise standards within the recruitment industry. The firm will add value beyond the transactional part of the recruitment process, while simultaneously delivering a social impact by pledging a percentage of each recruitment fee into a social impact non-profit fund. 

IFF Talent offers clients and candidates a modern, first-in-class customer-centric approach whilst utilising technology and AI-enabled solutions to improve the recruitment experience. The trio will also build a first-of-its-kind coaching and mentoring cohort to support personal and professional development throughout a finance professional’s career journey and create a valuable support community. 

Furthermore, the founders have collectively committed to supporting a ‘social pillar’ close to each of their hearts, which also significantly impacts society by pledging a percentage of each recruitment fee into their own dedicated non-profit, demonstrating their dedication to giving back to the community.

Joe Ingham has spent over a decade as a respected senior finance recruiter across corporate, independent, boutique, and new office start-ups. Most recently, he was a partner at regional recruitment firm Pratap Partnership. He was responsible for successfully building and growing the interim finance division before the business transitioned to an employee ownership model. 

Joe’s social pillar is social mobility, which he will champion within the industry and support the next generation of professionals to enter the market. 

Joe is a keen advocate of social mobility. He proudly comes from a working-class background where he has worked hard to further his career. 

With a shortage of talent entering the finance profession, Joe understands the need to tap into more diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Joe Ingham says:

“IFF Talent will be looking at ways we can further educate ourselves around the importance of social mobility, especially in the current labour market, in addition to adding our support to a cause that is very close to my heart.”

Rachel Frankland brings 17 years of sector experience, coming from HW Global Group where she most recently successfully launched a new division, HW People aimed at emerging leaders. 

Rachel is a highly respected interim and senior finance recruiters in the Yorkshire market and will bring her executive search principles into mid-market and emerging leader finance recruitment. 

Rachel’s social pillar will focus on empowering women in finance and supporting gender equity and she is keen to highlight how the finance industry needs to embrace female talent on all levels.

As of 2024 in the UK, women hold 34.5% of leadership roles within FTSE 350 companies, including executive committees and their direct reports. However, women continue to be underrepresented in the highest-ranking positions with only 18% of Finance Director roles and 8% of CEO roles being held by women.

Rachel Frankland explains:

“While female representation at the top is growing, challenges remain in finance around pay, culture, and supporting women into leadership roles. Many talented women still leave the industry as companies fail to support them due to inflexible work structures and limited mentorship”

Javed Bobat boasts over 20 years of industry experience as a finance recruiter, notably launching Marks Sattin in Leeds in 2009 from a start-up to a top three regional agency with a multi-million revenue. 

In 2018, Javed launched FIDE, recruiting within the accountancy and finance market while also offering mental health and well-being training and support services through his non-profit.

FIDE will now represent the F in IFF Talent, and Javed will continue his work by championing mental health and workplace wellbeing as his social pillar.

Javed, who has championed raising mental health awareness alongside growing his own recruitment business in the last four years, comments:

“Having successfully grown Fide into a socially conscious recruitment business I’m so excited to come together with two excellent and reputable recruiters who share similar values in wanting to create a bigger, better purpose-driven recruitment business in IFF Talent. 

“We will ensure our clients and contacts receive an enhanced recruitment agency experience that goes way beyond the transactional part of the process. I will also be ensuring the accountancy and finance profession are supported by continuing to drive my social pillar of mental health in the sector.”

And mental health has been highlighted within the sector. MHFA England shows that 83% of people working in finance have considered leaving the sector due to mental health challenges. Surveys from ICAEW and Deloitte show the accountancy and finance profession also has some of the highest levels of stress, anxiety and burnout.

IFF Talent has ambitious growth plans and is in advanced talks to secure significant investment, with plans to bolster its team with key hires and like-minded individuals.