Lester is a law & psychology graduate who has spent over a decade recruiting into the London finance market. After a successful 6 years with Michael Page, Lester was the first one to take the plunge and join Allen Lane in 2005 and has never looked back. Lester is a Director within Allen Lane and he specialises in Government and Industry finance.

Known in the office as: Thrifty

Unofficially: Lester loves his cricket and once accidentally hit Courtney Walsh for 6 and he has also run out two former Test cricket captains whilst batting with them. Lester can't swim or drive. Lester is also renowned for his trousers which are always too short. Keep an eye out for this.

Gayle graduated in corporate communications majoring in public relations and industrial psychology in South Africa. She joined Allen Lane in 2005 and is fundamentally involved in ensuring that both candidates and clients of Allen Lane receive the best levels of service at all times.

Known in the office as: Gayley

Unofficially: Gayle keeps everything together in the office and is always missed when she's away. At karaoke, Gayle will always be seen holding the mike but never a tune. Only she has ever heard herself hit the right note (once).

Ben is an economics & politics graduate and trained as an accountant with BDO Stoy Hayward. Ben went to register with one of the largest global recruitment firms as an accountant and was snapped up to become a recruitment consultant. After becoming their youngest ever manager, Ben jointly set up Allen Lane in 2004 and he even holds the accolade of youngest ever director of Allen Lane!

Known in the office as: Lano

Unofficially: Ben once played international tennis and his squash record against his business partner is something like 192-1 in his favour. A notorious workaholic, he often logs-in on weekends and when he can't sleep at night. He even logged-in everyday when he was on his honeymoon!

Nicola is a German and business graduate and has spent over 10 years in recruitment. Initially based in her homeland of Scotland, Nicola moved to London and joined Michael Page in 2000. After 6 years with them, including 3 years as a senior manager, she joined Allen Lane in 2006.

Nicola concentrates on interim NHS finance appointments and leads the Allen Lane finance and human resources businesses.

Known in the office as: Buddy / Brooksy

Unofficially: Nicola's sister has played the lead role in Les Miserables but Nicola is anything but miserable. Famed for her positivity and energy, Nicola is definitely a 'glass is half full' type of girl which is what she says when it's her round!

James is a sociology graduate and after university, he immediately moved into recruitment joining Michael Page Finance on their graduate training programme. After seven very successful years with the public sector team, culminating in senior management, James parted company to jointly set up Allen Lane in 2004. James has always specialised in senior permanent resourcing and has established an excellent network of people across public sector finance.

Known in the office as: Jim / Jimmy / Jimbo

Unofficially: James has often been mistaken for Easyjet's founder but assures us that he has no Cypriot heritage and insists he's more Robbie Williams than Stelios. He loves his football and often makes the bench for Kingston Academicals.

Graduating in history and politics, Liam worked for American Express in credit analysis for two years before moving into financial recruitment in May 2000. He played a key role in developing the Venn Group's financial services team before leaving them in 2005 to go travelling. He joined Allen Lane in 2006 and is now leading the local government, education and housing teams.

Known in the office as: Farnky

Unofficially: Liam is passionate about Billy Joel, scuba diving and clothing. Regarding himself as something of a fashion icon, his ideal job would be to model for Abercrombie & Fitch but they tend to take on a slightly different calibre of model. In spite of this, Liam will always be seen strutting in the hope that he gets talent spotted one day.

Beth is a history graduate and entered the world of recruitment immediately after university, joining Badenoch & Clark's interim finance division. After seven years with B&C, including five as senior manager, Beth went travelling before joining Allen Lane in 2007. Beth leads the charities division within Allen Lane covering all financial and human resources appointments.

Known in the office as: Betty

Unofficially: Beth plays the classical guitar and has an intense fear of heights after being stuck at the top of a rollercoaster ride for over an hour before being rescued. Beth is the sarcastic one in the office.

Darren graduated in human resource management before a post grad marketing management qualification in South Africa and a Prince 2 qualification in the UK. He moved to London in 2006 and worked in various project roles before joining Allen Lane in the spring of 2008 as a Project Analyst to provide support to the team.

Known in the office as: Dazza

Unofficially: Darren is the Switzerland of the company, never wanting to get involved in stitch ups and always keeping his nose clean. He is also the muscle man of the office and keeps trying to get a gym installed on the premises.

Nicole is a sociology graduate and after working in event management following university, she travelled around Thailand before joining Allen Lane in 2007. Nicole specialises in temporary NHS recruitment. Her previous experience in event management ensures her commitment to outstanding customer service with candidates and clients alike.

Known in the office as: Princess / Mozza

Unofficially: Nicole has lived in London all of her life but she has never been south of the river. Nicole is famed for her 'Nicoleisms' and has won the title 'Most Inquisitive Person on the planet' several years running.

Alex graduated in agri-business management before moving into recruitment, joining Witan Jardine in 1999. After five very successful years with them, he left to travel and work in Australia where he continued his recruitment career before returning to London and joining Allen Lane in Spring 2008. Alex specialises in the NHS where he recruits senior interims.

Known in the office as: J.R. Hartley / Lex

Unofficially: Alex loves his museums and geographical excursions and is a National Trust member. He is also an avid photographer coming second in a national amateur competition. Alex has been sung to by the lead singer of the Lighthouse Family and when wearing a hat has been mistaken for Woody from Toy Story.

Steve was instrumental in establishing the public sector recruitment businesses for ECHM and Synergy where his focus was recruiting mainly qualified accountants. Having built a strong customer focused reputation in the sector with both candidates and clients over 6 years, Steve was recruited by Allen Lane in summer 2008 to focus on senior interim and project management recruitment within the Local Government team.

Known in the office as: Stevo

Unofficially: Steve used to work as an air steward and once served Princess Margaret on a KLM flight. Steve has a vast collection of hotel garments.

Tessa is a human resources graduate from South Africa and also holds a post graduate diploma in teaching. Tessa joined Allen Lane in summer 2008 as a Research Consultant to provide front line support to the recruitment team. Tessa's is the first Allen Lane voice that many prospective clients and candidates will hear when contacting Allen Lane.

Known in the office as: Tess

Unofficially: Tess is the most reserved person in the office never letting her feelings be shown but we did discover that she is a big fan of Denzel Washington and South African cricketer AB DeVilliers

David is a business management graduate who joined the Allen Lane team in spring 2009. He spent three years at Hays Accountancy where he specialised within the public sector and became one of the most successful consultants within the division. He maintains his focus on permanent qualified recruitment across the public and not-for-profit sectors.

Known in the office as: Godders

Unofficially: David used to earn his living as a poker player and his mother once played bass guitar in a band with Worzel, former lead guitarist of heavy metal rockers Motorhead.

Maurice joined Hudson's London office in October 2005 to set up the permanent public sector team before gaining additional responsibility for the qualified commerce and industry permanent function and latterly the temporary public and not for profit team managing around 9 staff. He joined Allen Lane in September 2009 as the head of permanent recruitment.

Known in the office as: Maureece (which he detests), Norris, Doris and occasionally Mo (which he likes).

Unofficially: Maureece is a sports nut, a regular dislocator of [both] shoulders and is that rare breed of Mancunian Manchester United fan. Before recruitment, Maureece lived in Argentina for a year and flirted with a career in TV production which included 6 months on Popstars:The Rivals persuading Louis Walsh that a young Cheryl Tweedy really would be a success in Girls Aloud.

Pete joined Michael Page on their graduate scheme in 2007 and after helping establish their Public Sector Health and Social Care Division, he joined Allen Lane in early 2010 to head up the NHS HR team where he specialises in senior interim assignments.

Known in the office as: TP - Tiny Pete!

Unofficially: Pete is a big sports fan, supporting the 'mighty' sky blues (the world famous Coventry City). He has toured Australia and Ireland 'playing' rugby (although we are sure it was as the mascot). He is also the first Allen Lane employee who went out to buy a new shirt and tie combination for his website photo! If you've seen his wardrobe, you can understand why (he wore a dress shirt to work on his first day).

Adrian is a Marketing graduate who joined Michael Page on their graduate scheme. Specialising in the public sector permanent market for over 3 years, Adrian developed a glowing reputation for delivery, customer service and a long term commitment to the careers of finance professionals in the sector. With a proven track record and specialism established, he joined Allen Lane in early 2010 to specialise in senior permanent NHS assignments.

Known in the office as: Puds, Wattsy

Unofficially: Adrian believes his life to have been uneventful in spite of being accident prone. He joins the Allen Lane Spurs supporters club (which has now grown to three) and has in the past pipped former Manchester United's Luke Chadwick to a Man of the match award when they played at primary school - winning a pound in the process! Chadwick got his own back when he beat Adrian in a 'beauty parade'.

Polly graduated in History & American Studies from the University of Nottingham before pursuing and gaining an LLB. After learning about the law, she went travelling the world - visiting every continent apart from Antarctica and joined Allen Lane in 2011. Polly brings her impressive academic and legal expertise (as well as her wealth of unusable knowledge) to Allen Lane's Operations team.

Known in the office as: Molly P, Milo

Unofficially: Polly is rapidly becoming the Oracle of the office with her knowledge of random historical, American and legal facts - although she believes she has more versatility than this. She also has the loudest laugh in the office.

Scarlett is a former head girl and lifelong Londoner who graduated from Kings College with a degree in Biomedical Sciences. Aside from being a Biology tutor for a not-for-profit organisation (and being a butcher's assistant!) she went into a few non-medical related roles including waitressing and working as a notorious Jagermeister Girl before her 'natural' progression into recruitment when she joined Allen Lane in 2011.

Known in the office as: Lettuce, Letty

Unofficially: Scarlett was given the name 'Lettuce' at birth and changed from the 'greens' to the 'reds' one month later after a successful petition from concerned relatives. Scarlett is an avid Chelsea fan (ever since Abramovich took over).

Chloe is a well travelled English & Drama graduate from QMUL. Initially seeking a career as an actress while waitressing, she came to the conclusion that a far more glamorous career lay ahead in recruitment. She joined a small consultancy, learning the ropes as a researcher before joining the Allen Lane.

Known in the office as: Schlo-mo, Chlo

Unofficially: Chloe speaks fluent ‘Gangsta’ and has an unhealthy love for shoes and shopping.

Andy is Allen Lane's second graduate from the University of Wales, Swansea. A Devon lad, he moved to London following graduation and joined Morgan Hunt, where he specialised in finance recruitment into the Not-For-Profit sectors. Following a successful 18 months there, he joined Allen Lane to build on his knowledge and reputation as a dedicated and passionate recruiter and specialise specifically in recruiting to the Housing and Education sectors.

Known in the office as: Buble

Unofficially: Andy's joining has made a serious challenge to Pete's assertion that he is the office's best footballer, having played at the old Wembley in his early 'career'. He likes to think of himself as pretty active despite spending more time talking about the gym than actually going, although this has changed recently when he realised he was starting to look like a pudgy version of Michael Buble. Andy also has a fear of karaoke, which probably wasn't the most sensible thing to tell us...

Kate graduated in Psychology & Business Administration from the University of South Africa. Prior to this she spent a year working as a live-in au pair in New York giving her the opportunity to travel extensively around the USA. Kate joined Allen Lane in early 2012 having worked for several years in a number of administrative roles. Kate brings the total number of South Africans in the office to four.

Known in the office as: Monty

Unofficially: Kate's wish list involves; meeting Elvis Presley, being Henry VIII's seventh wife and to visit every beach in the world. Additionally Kate's hobbies include deep sea diving and going to the gym but she has no gym wear here in the UK yet.