Lysha Holmes welcomes back Darren Westall, Co-Founder of Paiger, for a wide-ranging conversation about business development, recruitment technology and what it really takes to thrive in the next phase of the industry.
Darren shares his journey from becoming a CTO at 28 to founding Paiger, and explains how the platform has evolved into an AI-powered revenue layer focused on helping recruiters improve productivity, business development and GP per recruiter.
The conversation explores why quality BD still matters, why “smile and dial” is dead, and how recruiters can use AI to research prospects, prioritise the best opportunities, identify hiring signals and create more targeted outreach. Darren also demonstrates Paiger Intelligence, including ideal customer profiles, market signals, research, contact discovery, personalised outreach and LinkedIn content.
But this episode goes beyond technology. Lysha and Darren discuss the growing importance of KPIs, strategic hiring, productivity over headcount, and the dangers of building too much technology internally around a single employee. They also tackle the big question around AI: how do recruitment businesses use it to enable great people rather than replace them?
With recruitment businesses beginning to grow again after a challenging period, Darren and Lysha look at why this could be the start of a healthier, more sustainable cycle for the industry — one built around expertise, better processes, smarter technology and keeping recruitment human.
WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR
Recruitment business owners, agency leaders, recruiters, BD teams, operations leaders and anyone thinking about how AI, technology and better processes can drive sustainable growth.
🔗 Connect with the guest
Darren Westall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenwestall/
Paiger: https://paiger.co/
🔗 Connect with the host
Lysha Holmes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyshaholmesr2r/
Qui Recruitment: https://www.quirecruitment.co.uk/
Follow the podcast on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts:
https://www.youtube.com/@therecruitersrecruitmentpod
https://the-recruiters-recruitment-podcast.captivate.fm/
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The Recruiter's Recruitment Podcast is proudly sponsored by Paiger and Atlas, and partnered with Bristow & Hardy and Keybridge IT Solutions.
Our sponsors:
Paiger - Making Recruiters Smarter and Faster. Paiger helps recruiters build personal brands, identify new business opportunities, attract candidates, and have better conversations.
Find out more about Paiger: https://paiger.co/
Atlas - Imagine a recruitment platform that was built from the ground up using the latest in generative AI technology. A platform that combines your favourite 10 tools into one simple UI with perfect integration out of the box. Imagine all your mundane tasks automated. The result? You'll generate 50% more revenue.
Find out more about Atlas: https://recruitwithatlas.com/
Our partners:
Bristow & Hardy partners with SME recruitment agencies to accelerate growth through sales enablement and recruitment marketing. With over 7 years’ experience, we specialise exclusively in the recruitment sector, delivering strategy, branding, websites, marketing campaigns, and sales support. Our proven growth suite of products helps agencies attract more clients, win more business, and scale efficiently.
https://www.bristowandhardy.co.uk/
Keybridge IT Solutions is a London-based Fully Managed IT Support and solutions Provider - Providing 24×7 Support to all Customers. Specialities include Microsoft Cloud, including Office 365, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, Security, Internet Connectivity, VoIP, and much more.
https://www.keybridgeit.com/
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