A global private equity investor specialising in recruitment
Empowering recruiters in Japan to build something for themselves
Recruitment Entrepreneur is one of the most successful private equity investors in recruitment businesses. Our mission is to help founders globally, launch, scale, and eventually exit their own recruitment businesses, generating a wealth creation event. We invest in all sectors within the recruitment industry, which provides a diverse portfolio of businesses, each one a specialist in its own niche.
We have fostered a community of businesses that benefit from the expertise of our dedicated team who provide; funding, financial expertise, operational strategy, back-office support, legal advice, marketing, and talent attraction solutions, all of which enable our partner businesses to flourish.
Our founder & Chairman
James Caan CBE
Having founded Recruitment Entrepreneur in 2014, former Dragons' Den star and serial entrepreneur James Caan CBE plays a pivotal role in shaping each business within our portfolio.
James has been in recruitment for over 30 years and invests in recruitment companies of all sizes across various geographies and sectors.
Alexander Mann, his first recruitment business, sold in 2013 for £260 million. His second recruitment venture, Humana International, grew to 140 offices across 30 countries.
With 3 million followers, James was named LinkedIn’s second most influential voice of 2017. His global network, both online and offline, has assisted our current CEOs in attracting the best talent, clients and candidates to their businesses.
Meet the leadership team
James Caan CBE
Chairman
James Caan CBE
Chairman
As Chairman, James takes an active role in the investment process, working closely with the Recruitment Entrepreneur team to support you and your company. His hands-on approach enables entrepreneurs to learn from his considerable experience in founding and scaling recruitment businesses.
Simon Childs
Non-Executive Director
Simon Childs
Non-Executive Director
Simon has more than 2 decades of experience building, selling, buying, and facilitating management buy-outs in the recruitment space across Asia, totaling approximately US$100m.
Originally from England, Simon lived in Japan where he co-founded CDS, a leading MNC recruitment business in Japan which today has over 200 staff and a gross profit of $50M. Simon helped build the business from scratch and scaled it to a successful exit, when he sold the business to Recruit Holdings - Japan and Asia’s largest HR Services group - in December 2007.
He spent the next 13 years helping build Recruit’s permanent recruitment businesses in Asia, and after operational spells in Hong Kong and Mumbai, he became an Advisor to the Board in 2013, through 2020.
Simon has been listed in Business Week as one of the World’s Top 100 Head-hunters. He is the recipient of an Asia Hall of Fame award from Recruitment International.