CHR Life Sciences joined Raise from a recruitment-specific funder in August. Three months in, we sat down with them both to take a closer look at how they found the move; learn more about their journey so far and understand what they think of the service so far.

The background

Chris and Haseena started working together in recruitment 6 years ago after Chris brought Haseena into the world of recruitment. Chris focused on perm and Haseena on the contract market. Since then the two of them have built a solid friendship built on trust and that has led them into starting a business together.

"In all seriousness we wouldn't be where we are today if we didn't have such trust in each other. We're two best friends growing a business."‍

Haseena, Co-Founder

They were frustrated with the constraints that existed in the roles and the inability to be able to build things the way that they wanted to build them. It meant that they couldn't excel further in their market. And it was one of the driving forces behind them starting out on their own.

The two of them dreamt of building something different.

They were supported through their inception with our friends at RecruitHub.

Since launching they've gone from strength to strength, growing both the perm and contract side of the business and building the team. Some of those team members are highly regarded within their industry, testament to the ability of Haseena and Chris in building a great business and being able to attract great people to join them on the journey.

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The Vision

Both Chris and Haseena are incredibly ambitious. But they were keen to highlight that they don't necessarily want to be the biggest business in world. They want to be the best in class. Their strategy is to go inch wide, mile deep.

They also want CHR to be an environment where others can come and build their own offering. To trust others to deliver with their full support. This thread of empowerment comes through in spades from the two founders.

Commitment, Honesty and Respect are core to their values as business owners. It's in the name. And it's those values that drive the type of business that they want to build.

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Funding and backoffice

CHR started their funding journey with Sonovate. For Chris and Haseena, a quality and personal service is important. For what they were paying, the value and the experience wasn't where they wanted it to be.

"What they put in front of us was fantastic. But what they delivered wasn't. It's been completely different with Raise. It's incredible to what we had previously."

Chris, Co-Founder

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The Raise experience

One thing that was really important in moving to Raise was ensuring that the switch for clients and contractors was as easy and painless as possible. And let's be real, it is a change and any change can be challenging. One that always comes with an element of risk - there is always some risk in replacing such an important part of the operation. It couldn't have gone more smoothly and the feedback from contractors and clients has been great!

"The service has just been unreal."

Haseena, Co-Founder

One thing that Chris and Haseena really liked was the long term plan. Raise provides different flexible options as agencies grow. It's important to plan for the longer term, not just the now. That might be international business, it might be funding options, it might be different industries or different levels of service. To do that Raise takes the time to understand our customers and build a strategy to support them as they grow and change.

We know that CHR and the team there have a very bright future and every faith that they will continue to build on their values and grow their business. And we will be doing everything in our power to support that!

Find out more about CHR Life Sciences at: www.chrlifesciences.com