ST · Retained engagement

Hiring on retainer. Training that sticks.

A 6 or 12 month retainer. We do all your hiring, no success fees, ever, map every billing team in your space, and Russell Webb personally trains your team. The retainer is the only fee.

Talk about a retainer → What's included
2,000+
recruiters trained by Russell
$0
success fees, for the term
6 to 12
month engagement
1
fee, the retainer
What's included

One retainer. Your hiring, your market and your training, handled.

All your hiring

We run every seat you need filled for the life of the engagement, rookies through senior billers. No per-hire success fees, ever.

Market mapped end to end

Every billing team in your space, named and tracked. Who is hiring, who is wobbling, who you should be poaching and who to avoid.

Russell trains your team

Russell Webb personally trains your consultants, the same approach behind 2,000+ recruiters trained. Skills that outlast the retainer.

One fee, full alignment

The retainer is the only fee. We are not incentivised to push warm bodies through the door, we are incentivised to build you a team that bills.

Why retained, not success-fee

The success-fee model is built to fail you.

It pays the recruiter for putting a body in a seat, then again when that body leaves. A retainer pays us to build something that lasts.

"We do all your hiring, map your whole market, and train your team. The retainer is the only fee, so the only thing we can win on is your team actually billing."

Start Training · Start Group
  • Success-fee hiring rewards volume, not fit, so agencies churn juniors and pay again
  • Most owners are too close to their own market to map it objectively
  • Training is the first thing cut when a quarter gets tight, so it never compounds
  • A retained partner who owns hiring AND training has one job: your team billing
How the engagement runs

Headcount and capability, built at the same time.

1

Scope & retainer

We agree the seats, the market to map and a 6 or 12 month retainer. One fee, written down.

2

Map the market

We build the full picture of your space, every team, every mover, and start the hiring pipeline immediately.

3

Hire & train in parallel

New consultants land while Russell trains the desk. Capability and headcount grow together, not one then the other.

4

Compounding handover

By the end you own a mapped market, a fuller team and a trained one, and the habits to keep it going.

FAQ · Retained hiring + training

What owners ask before signing.

How does Start Training pricing work?
A flat 6 or 12 month retainer agreed up front. That single fee covers all of your hiring for the term, there are no per-placement success fees, ever, plus the market mapping and Russell Webb training your team. The retainer is the only fee.
Why no success fees?
Because success fees reward us for volume and speed, which is exactly the wrong incentive when you are trying to build a durable team. A retainer aligns us with the outcome you actually want: consultants who stay and bill.
Who is Russell Webb?
Russell is the trainer behind Start Training and has personally trained 2,000+ recruiters. Under a Start Training retainer he works directly with your consultants rather than handing over a slide deck.
Is this only for big agencies?
No. It tends to suit owners of small-to-mid agencies who are trying to grow headcount and capability at the same time and are tired of paying success fees for hires that do not stick. We will tell you on the first call whether it fits.
What does the engagement actually deliver?
Three things that compound: your seats filled, your market mapped end to end, and your team trained to a standard that outlasts the retainer. You finish owning all three.
For agency owners

Stop paying success fees for hires that don't stick.

Fifteen minutes to see whether a Start Training retainer fits your agency. We'll be straight about whether it does.

Talk about a retainer → Meet the team
By location
By seniority
By sector