Happy Birthday to us
September 16th 1986 was the day that Extraman Ltd began. There had been an Extraman operating from Earl's Court and other locations since the early seventies, but on the date in question Adrian Gregory and Gary Davies bought the ongoing business from the previous owner and started in their own right.Two years later, the current trading premises was bought as a rather overpriced freehold but one which has certainly justified the cost over the years.
In 1986, a pay rate of £3 per hour was the norm and there was no holiday pay or pension contributions for temps. GDPR and Agency Workers Regulations were many years away, as was the National Minimum Wage and, with mobile phones yet to enter the world and email still a distant dream, all communication was over the phone. The lines rang all day, every day. Furthermore, with tube fares at that time unaffordable for lower paid workers, Extraman had a fleet of minibuses to transport staff; up to 20 would be lined up in Hogarth Place at 6.00am, which endeared our company to coffee shop owners in the street, but very few others. Thursdays and Fridays would see our office besieged from early until late, with all workers being paid by way of a cheque which could be cashed at the bank over the road.
Gary retired in 2015 but Adrian remains at the helm of an operation which is handling more work from Earl's Court than ever before. Very few independent operators have survived in our part of the recruitment industry; our competitors from 35 years ago have either disappeared or sold out to larger organisations. We are proud that we have not only survived but prospered within an industry where our ethical approach (please see the "About us" tab and scroll to "Our Ethics") has seen us plough an often lonely furrow. We have always placed proper treatment of our workforce at the core of all we do and, today, we can celebrate a long journey which shows no sign of ending.