Bristol recruitment agency ISL is celebrating doing the treble after being ranked one of the best places to work in the UK, then in Europe – and now for women.
In April ISL Recruitment jumped 20 places on one of the UK’s most prestigious workplace culture lists to be named as the fourth greatest UK small business to work for. 
That was followed last month with the news it was ranked 14th best in Europe. Then this week it heard it had been judged the third best for women in the Small Business category.
The Best Workplace rankings are published by global staff wellbeing consultancy Great Place to Work..
ISL internal recruitment manager Samantha Patten said: “I’m very proud to be named third best for women, and equally proud we have a very healthy gender balance here – which isn’t common in recruitment.
“That’s not by design. It’s because I think we’re somewhere women can see themselves working in a competitive environment but still be happy with the culture.
“We don’t have diversity targets, but we do carefully manage the working environment to ensure everyone feels as included and supported as possible.”
ISL, which has a team of more than 30 in its Baldwin Street offices specialising in IT and engineering recruitment, intends to more than double in size over the next three years and take its business model overseas, with expansion plans being considered into Europe and beyond.
It was set up 11 years ago by recruiter Henry Keeys, who was fed up with the way the industry treated its workforce. In 2016-17 it turned over £3.1m and also increased net fee income by 35% on the previous year. Pictured:
Pictured, from left: Emma Metherell, recruitment consultant; Samantha Patten, internal recruitment manager; and Lois Sterling, account manager
