Nationality British Spouse(s) Catherine Stiff | Website Robert Stiff Name Robert Stiff | |
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Born 24 June 1960 (age 63) ( 1960-06-24 ) Southern Rhodesia Occupation Businessman; entrepreneur Known for Mentoring to business owners, motivational speaking | ||
Robert Stiff (born 24 June 1960) is a Southern Rhodesia born British entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and former managing director of the leading healthcare recruitment company Team24 and is an experienced keynote speaker at industry, business and marketing conferences.
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Early life
Robert Stiff was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1960, where he was brought up by his English parents. His father Peter, an officer in the British South Africa Police until 1972, is the author of The Rain Goddess. The novel draws on Peter's experiences of counter-insurgency along the Rhodesian–South African border during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Career
Robert Stiff moved to Great Britain in 1978 and enlisted in the British Army. After leaving the army, Stiff joined Prudential Assurance in 1987, working as a senior manager for 12 years before moving into healthcare recruitment.
He joined healthcare recruitment company Ambition Recruitment Services as Sales Director in 1999, working with his sister Penny Streeter. During his six years at the company, Stiff was instrumental in increasing his sales team's turnover from £3m to £75m per annum.
Stiff founded Team24 in Croydon in 2005. The company places doctors and nurses with healthcare providers, (GP surgeries, NHS trusts, private hospitals and private clients). Now based in Banstead, Surrey, Team24 was ranked as the 15th fastest growing private company in the UK in 2010, in The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 Awards. The company's turnover increased from £1m (annualised) to £13.4m between 2006 and 2009, growth of 133.97% per annum. The following year the company won the Fast Growth Business Awards' 2010 'Family Business of the Year' award. The company's website receives 1000 nursing applications each month and their latest accounts show turnover to have increased to £30.2m. Stiff and his team have developed a market leading customer management system for Team24 that has been pivotal in its success. He plans to take this product to market in the near future.
In May 2011 Stiff sold Team24 to one of Britain's largest outsourcing firms, Capita, for a sum nearing £26m. Stiff agreed to stay on as managing director of the firm until his departure in May 2012.
Stiff is a regular motivational key note speaker on a variety of topics, including: recruitment; management; sales; motivation; margins; the Internet; and e-commerce.
In 2011 Stiff became a patron of The Prince's Trust for the south-east region by supporting young people, proving himself as one of the leading philanthropists in the region. In May 2011 Stiff placed himself and his expertise as an entrepreneur on eBay. He decided to auction himself as a mentor to a start-up business to raise funds for The Prince's Trust charity. Tahira Herold, who hoped to create a range of ethically sourced cosmetic bags, won the auction with a sum of £2,000, with all the proceeds going to The Prince's Trust.
In 2012 he won a much coveted award as Entrepreneur of the Year at the Insider South East Dealmakers Awards.
Since 2012 Robert has worked on a number of new projects, including starting a number of new businesses.
• Quicktemp - A Nationwide Recruitment Specialist providing Temporary & Permanent recruitment solutions in the driving, office and education sectors.
• Hankyz – the ultimate men's accessory for the discerning man. With one of the largest collections of pre-folded pocket squares/ Hankies in the world.
• Daksta – working across a number of technical areas including Oil and Gas, engineering, shipping and construction.
• Nursdoc - In June of 2015 Robert went back to his roots and launched Nursdoc – A healthcare recruitment agency working across the UK, specialising in providing temporary, contract and permanent nurse & doctors.
• Nursing Direct – In 2017 Robert launched Nursing Direct, it deals with patients with Complex health needs in their homes, in partnership with CCGs as well as direct private engagement.
All of the companies are headlining under The Galago Group