Kelly Whitfield emerged from a traumatic childhood and a stint as a police officer to become a successful entrepreneur. Now, as she prepares to launch her latest business, she tells PETER BARRON her extraordinary story…

THROUGHOUT her life, Kelly Whitfield has found solutions to problems. It is what she does best. Growing up in a deprived part of Middlesbrough, she had to find ways to survive a childhood that is sadly remembered for violence, abuse, and neglect. And yet, she recognises that those dark experiences were lessons in resilience, tenacity and a determination “to do better”.

As a police officer on the streets of Middlesbrough, she went undercover to crack crime, before going on to make her mark in the world of business: using her knowledge of technology, alongside a deliberately different way of thinking, to help a wide range of companies to find the right people.

Now, after gaining a wealth of experience along the way, she is poised to launch her latest business venture, KLIK UK. And she is confident it has the potential to revolutionise the £36 billion recruitment industry that she knows so well.

The trappings of success she has today –  a stunning 10,000 sq.ft gated mansion in Hartlepool, complete with indoor pool, gymnasium, cinema, stables, games room and guest apartment – are a far cry from her upbringing on a council estate in Whinney Banks, Middlesbrough.

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“I know I was an unwanted child – an accident,” she says. “I never knew my father and, without going into detail, it was pretty horrific at times, but everything that happened was a lesson and a gift.”

Her openness about her childhood is not to seek sympathy but to send a message to others, who may be in a similar situation, to never give up hope.

After school, she started on a Youth Training Scheme with iconic Middlesbrough fashion retailer, Psyche. She dusted, she spaced garments, she served customers – and she watched how owner Steve Cochrane developed his brand.

“People would come in and buy the least expensive item in the shop – branded socks – just so they could walk around with a Psyche bag. Steve created a desire and an aspiration around the business. It fascinated me,” she explains.

Her big chance came when Steve saw the need for the business to move into the digital world and introduce computers and barcodes. Kelly had always been good with technology. Whenever someone in the family got a new TV, video, or the latest gadget, it was Kelly who was called upon to set it up.

Still in her YTS placement, she got to grips with the new system at Psyche, to the extent that she was quickly moved from the shopfloor to an office, with sole responsibility for the stock management system.

“It was my business awakening,” she smiles.

However, Kelly had always had a burning ambition to be a police officer, inspired by the memories she had of feeling safe when the police arrived at the house throughout her upbringing.

“It was all I ever wanted to do. I needed to help and protect vulnerable people. I began the application process the second I was old enough, attending each stage during my YTS placement,” she says.

By the time she was 19, Kelly was fully operational and working covertly “over the border” in Middlesbrough. With a crewcut to blend in, she helped bring drug dealers and criminals to justice.

Having achieved her ambition to serve as a police officer, the urge to explore the world beyond Middlesbrough proved irresistible. She left to circumnavigate the globe, living with indigenous people, gaining an advanced qualification in scuba-diving, surfing and practising natural horsemanship as she went.

With that adventure behind her, she returned to Middlesbrough, walked into a recruitment agency in Albert Road and, by the time she had completed the registration process, was offered a job with the agency itself, eventually managing temp payroll.

“I’d entered the recruitment industry by accident – and I became an absolute nuisance,” she admits.

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Albert Road was known as ‘Agency Alley’ and she made it her mission to get the better of the competition. Indeed, she became such a nuisance that Hays PLC – a global recruitment agency and the biggest on the street – headhunted her and within six months, awarded her Runner-Up Employee of the Year for the group. To continue developing her career, Kelly’s next step was to move into a strategic human resources role in industry, working alongside another formidable entrepreneur in Chey Garland, before taking a part-time role with The Prince’s Trust to make room in her life to study for a degree in business management during the evening.

“It was a manic time because I was also starting a family, but I knew I had to study to  move onto the next level,” she says.

After she graduated, she joined NRG PLC recruitment company as head of the Professional Services Group division, before taking the plunge and launching her own business – Adept Professional Services, in Hartlepool.

“I could see an opportunity for recruitment agencies to provide additional services that weren’t being offered,” she says. “Instead of bums on seats, there needed to be more employee engagement to boost retention and a bigger focus on culture and human capital management.”

A huge contract with Northern Powergrid followed, along with Adept becoming the preferred supplier for NETPark, the UK’s leading science and technology cluster, at Sedgefield.

“Our motto was ‘Deliberately Different’ which evolved into ‘The Adept Way’. The business flew because we were the best,” says Kelly, who also launched an ethical PAYE company called Adept Payroll Services.

After running her businesses for 10 years, she semi-retired aged 42 but, by her own admission, “did a poor job” of taking things easy. “It just wasn’t me. I realised I needed to be creating something.”

The answer was to pull together everything she had learned and start designing the technology that is about to be launched as KLIK UK – the power behind a series of sector-specific, digitally disruptive careers and community platforms, aimed at transforming the recruitment sector.

Each platform will encourage people to come together in one central online hub to access opportunities within that particular sector. Podcasts, events, groups, forums, CV writing technology, a CV database, intuitive jobs board, and fully-funded training, delivered through expert partnerships, will all be included around a socially-driven newsfeed.

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The first platform to be launched, powered by KLIK UK software, will be called Freeport, focusing on the freeport sector, with two main entry points – one for individuals interested in the sector, and one for businesses looking for opportunities and talent.

Even before launch, high-profile logistics company AV Dawson has already led the way by signing up to be the first partner using the platform.

“Teesport is one of eight freeports in the country. All are receiving massive investment to boost economic prospects and create jobs, so it seemed like a good place to start,” says Kelly, whose straight-talking style about business has led to a number of appearances on Steph’s Packed Lunch, presented by Middlesbrough’s Steph McGovern.

The new business is privately funded, with Kelly building the technology with a team of developers over the past four years, alongside a franchising model to accelerate KLIK’s growth across all sectors. Education and teaching, healthcare and medical, science and tech, and TV and media are next on Kelly’s list, but the possibilities are endless.

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“The reason I’ve created this technology is because I can see a huge disconnection between education, careers advice, and employment. There’s simply not enough emphasis on employer branding, corporate culture, and staff retention,” she says.

“It’s become a candidate-driven market and those with amazing potential are in huge demand. Therefore, what businesses need to do is get fitter to compete for the best talent, and KLIK will enable them to do that.

“I think businesses are far better off regaining control of their own recruitment. Instead of paying recruitment agency fees, they should invest in-house and improve their culture. Businesses must work harder to attract and retain employees and become an employer of choice – and realise, it’s not just about money.
“When I work with the board of a client, I consider them to be an extension of my own business, and I’m an extension of theirs.”

KLIK UK and Freeport are ready to be rolled out and other sectors will follow, enabling a limitless list of companies to be one KLIK away from solving their recruitment challenges.

“It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” says Kelly. “I know I’m not meant to be here, so I’m going to make it count – and I know this is a way to help others and make a real difference.”

To find out more, go to: freeportcommunity.co.uk