Spotlight on Hill Robinson Southampton

With a focus on recruitment, Hill Robinson’s Southampton office benefits from its strategic positioning within a UK maritime hub.

Having opened its doors in 2022, Hill Robinson’s Southampton office was established to enhance Hill Robinson Recruitment’s presence in the UK. Encompassing Suzy Jovanovic, Head of Recruitment, and Luke Randall, Recruitment and Business Development, the team in Southampton are taking advantage of their location to find and secure some of the best crew talent.

With the office a stone’s throw from some of the UK’s most prominent crew training centres, the Southampton team are in regular contact with the prospective and existing crew training in the area. They will regularly visit the training centres to recruit candidates and crew can also drop into the office on their way to and from courses.

Every year the team travels to the Isle of Wight to meet with students on the UKSA Superyacht Cadetship – a structured four-year programme designed to train future deck officers for the superyacht industry. “We spend a full day interviewing 40-plus cadets who have completed phase one of the programme, shortlisting the crème de la crème who would be suitable for Hill Robinson’s fleet of managed yachts,” explains Suzy. The team will be returning in January to interview further cadets. In 2024, they will also visit the UKSA’s interior training programme.

“The maritime industry’s future looks bright, and we’re excited to be part of it.”

The Southampton team and Hill Robinson COO Paul Cook have also developed a strong relationship with Warsash Maritime School, which was the catalyst for a joint initiative to support future superyacht officers. Part of Trinity House’s Merchant Navy Scholarship Scheme, the initiative sees Hill Robinson and Trinity House sponsor four cadets in undertaking a three-year deck or engineering officer cadetship at Warsash Maritime School. The interviews for these potential cadets, led by Paul, are taking place at Hill Robinson’s Southampton office.

In October, Suzy and Luke attended the Cadets Open Day at Warsash to promote the initiative. “It was inspiring to see many aspiring cadets eager to embark on their maritime journeys,” comments Suzy. “The maritime industry’s future looks bright, and we’re excited to be part of it.”

With Southampton’s local maritime training facilities – as well as its rich maritime history and plentiful networking opportunities – Hill Robinson’s foothold in the area is proving fruitful in finding and securing the best talent to work aboard the Hill Robinson fleet. The office is looking to expand its team in the near future to further establish its presence in the UK.

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