OUR STORY

Meet The Founders

HiRec brings together more than 60 years of HR and recruitment experience, but our story started long before HiRec.

We’re Lucy and Michelle, and we’ve known each other for around 18 years through business, networking and working together as client and supplier. Over that time, we’ve built a warm friendship as well as a strong professional relationship, so we’ve had a pretty good view of how the other works.

Lucy has spent more than 30 years in recruitment and has run her own recruitment business, RecruitAbility, since 2008. Michelle has 30 years of HR experience, has owned SFB Consulting for 24 years and is a fully qualified Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

So between us, we know a lot about finding the right people, employing them, managing them and dealing with all the things that can happen along the way.

In 2026, we decided it was time to bring that experience together.

The more we talked, the more obvious it became that HR and recruitment shouldn’t really be treated as two separate things. Finding the right person is only the beginning. How you recruit them, bring them into your business, manage and support them, retain them and eventually handle their exit are all part of the same people journey.

And that’s where HiRec began.

Why salons?

We both already work with businesses in the salon sector, so we understand some of the very particular pressures salon owners face.

You’re running a business, looking after clients, managing a team, dealing with rotas and absences, trying to recruit good people and somehow expected to know exactly what to do when an HR issue lands on your desk.

Most salon owners don’t have an HR department or a recruitment team sitting in the next room. And bringing in professional support every time you have a question simply isn’t realistic.

We wanted to build something that genuinely helps.

HiRec brings our HR, recruitment and business experience together in one place, giving salon owners practical guidance, trusted templates, straightforward processes and support they can turn to when they need it.

Not to turn you into an HR or recruitment expert.

Just to make the people side of running your salon simpler, clearer and easier to manage.

Lucy & Michelle
HiRec
People | Processes | Progress