Tony Goodwin (pictured right), the founder of international professional services executive recruiter Antal International has told Recruiter of his plans to expand the Antal network to 600 offices within the next eight years on six continents.

Speaking to Recruiter at Antal’s Annual Global Conference for senior staff and franchise owners from around the world, Goodwin explains that Antal’s growth plans are based on the principle of dissecting the market.

Antal started off in FMCG and retail, says Goodwin, but it has since moved in a variety of niche sectors, such as marketing, legal and banking. Goodwin argues that by continually segmenting the market into niche areas, it is possible to continue growing and to reach the 600 offices target. 

“Each person [in a Antal office] can be a specialist an inch wide and a mile deep; that’s how it can work,” he says. 

Currently Antal International has 112 offices in 36 countries.

Goodwin says that “about 30%” of the 600 offices will be wholly owned by Antal, while the remainder will be franchised. Among the 600 would be around 100 in the UK. 

“There are 10,500 recruitment businesses in the UK – why can’t we have 100 Antal offices doing it properly?” asks Goodwin.