We are thrilled to have recently opened our new office in Edinburgh which is a major step forward in our future growth plans for ORB. Headed up by our director Alan Wallace, we have now appointed a new full-time associate director to the Scotland team Gillian Nimmo (41), who lives with her husband and daughter in East Lothian. Let’s find out a bit more about her.
Welcome Gillian, tell us a bit about your previous career history.
I started my career in Retail whilst at sixth form working part time in Next and continued this throughout University. After graduating, I continued and worked my way up through management positions. After 15 years I moved on to join menswear retailer TM Lewin as store manager and over the next 10 years developed and progressed, spending my final four years as regional manager across Scotland and Ireland. When I decided that I wanted to experience something new, I joined a local recruitment company that specialise in property. This was a great start to my recruitment career. I learnt a lot and made some brilliant friends.
What is your job title at ORB and what does the role involve?
I am associate director and I will be supporting ORB’s executive to build a dynamic team to drive the permanent division of the business, whilst continuing my own development and targeting new industries to ORB.
What are you enjoying about working at ORB?
So far, I am enjoying learning about the plans for the future and understanding how I can bring value to these. Everyone has been so welcoming and made me feel like part of the family.
Going forward, two things make me jump out of bed in the morning. The first is the team. Everyone is excited for what the future looks like and this in infectious. I’m also excited about what our future team will look like. The key for me is to get the right people. We can teach certain things, however the right personality and approach needs to be inherent for success. The second is the point of difference we can bring clients. We are not another agency throwing CVs at companies, we are an inclusive part of businesses that will offer value, quality and longevity to meet both parties needs and therefore a sustainable business model.
Tell us a bit about this being a new venture for Orb into Scotland – it must be exciting to be part of that journey?
Definitely. We are going to be the trailblazers for a new era of permanent recruitment. Covid has forced companies to look at their overheads and cut back on non value initiatives. Permanent recruitment from my experience has been one of these. We now have an opportunity to redefine what perm recruitment is, how we can add value and demonstrate that we are a credible part of their team and culture.
What do you enjoy most about working in recruitment?
I love that fist pump moment when you get an offer and you know that the candidate is going to be over the moon. When you know how much it means to them and you have facility to make it happen, that is a good day.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Rugby. This is my religion. I have been involved in rugby since being two years old and I currently run the press and media for my team who are the Boroughmuir Bears and are part of the Scottish semi professional tournament. Thankfully my husband and daughter also enjoy this and come to games to cheer us on and support me.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself!
I love animals and Disney. Other than my dog, cows and farm yard animals are my favourite. I would love to have a cow called Colin. Disney are my go to movies. Toy story is my ultimate back-to-back movie marathon, Mary Poppins is my childhood favourite and Lady and The tramp...it has dogs!