2024 has been an incredible year for Zodeq, both as a business and for our team! Here are some of our top highlights.
January
The year kicked off as we unveiled Top of the Class Finance, Zodeq’s tailored finance solutions for education recruiters. Our Managing Director, Paul Cooney explained further: “With years of experience in this sector, we understand the need for a finance provider that provides agencies with reliable, tailored support.”
Discover more here.
February
February saw our team begin their official training ahead of the Chester Half Marathon. In support of Countess of Chester Hospital, the team had ambitious plans to raise vital funds for a new piece of equipment for the Westminster Eye Clinic.
Plus, along with a number of key supporters, we were thrilled to announce that Zodeq would once again be sponsoring the Recruiter Awards’ ‘Best New Agency’ Award at the annual September event.
March
Zodeq, along with sister company, Praetura Commercial Finance, secured a £200m asset-based lending securitisation with Barclays. This, on top of an asset finance securitisation facility of £160m from NatWest, trebled Praetura Group’s loan book to over £400m in just three years, allowing us to support more SMEs than ever before.
Read the full story over on TheBusinessDesk.com.
March also saw Paul Cooney take on the BTR Liverpool 10 Mile Road Race support of Claire House Children’s Hospice. Well done, Paul!
April
April was a busy month of events for the Zodeq team! Paul Cooney accompanied Compare Factoring to the Moneyfacts Group plc Awards and joined them in celebration as they took home the prestigious title, Invoice Finance Broker of the Year.
A number of Zodeq’s female team members also attended the Variety Vixens Charity Lunch at Manchester’s Stock Exchange Hotel, where they met with a host of inspiring women, including the team at Leonard Curtis, and raised over £5,000 for charity.
May
In May, we welcomed a record-breaking 19 new clients! To help celebrate, we headed to Chester Races for our summer get-together. A huge thank you to our hardworking team, along with our amazing network of introducers, who contributed to this fantastic achievement.
This month also saw the first of many Elite Leaders events, which Paul Cooney attended on behalf of Zodeq alongside Langham Recruitment, with a focus on leadership, psychology and business growth.
May concluded with our Zodeq runners, Matthew Tosh and James Turner completing the Chester Half Marathon. Along with a host of supporters, local businesses and fellow runners they helped raise almost £8,000 for The Countess of Chester Hospital!
June
June saw the conclusion of an incredible seven figure facility to support established recruitment company, Senovo IT Ltd.
It was also the month of our Praetura Summer Party, which we attended along with fellow Praetura Group Business.
July
In July, we recorded our best month ever, with a record-breaking invoice amount completed! And collectively, Praetura Group businesses recorded our highest ever H1 lending figures across the Praetura lending division since being founded in 2013.
Paul Cooney also joined RecTalk, the podcast from Rectools, for Unlocking Success: The Mid-Year Performance Review with Paul Cooney and Nitin Sharma. Listen here.
August
To coincide with the Paris Olympics, Praetura team members, including those from Zodeq, took on the Olympic Torch Challenge this month, travelling 470km in 36 hours and raising an unbelievable £11,000 for Bone Cancer Research Trust.
September
In September, team Zodeq joined the celebrations at the biggest night of the recruitment calendar, the Recruiter Awards 2024. As sponsors of Best New Agency, our MD Paul Cooney took to the stage alongside host Stephen Mangan, to present Executive Integrity with their award.
This month we also celebrated our 8th birthday and attended a number of key networking and business events, including the launch of Network King at Liverpool’s Liberte Sky Garden, and the Liverpool Sportswoman’s Lunch held at Liverpool Football Club,
Plus, we welcomed our new Business Development Manager, Aaron Harris, who joined us alongside a record number of new Zodeq team members throughout 2024.
October
In October, we welcomed our 100th client of the year to date, technology & engineering recruitment company SERT, who we supported with a seven-figure invoice finance facility.
Paul also attended the launch of B Local Cheshire at Chester Zoo. Hosted by Zodeq’s marketing partners, Entyce Creative, the event celebrated the growing B Corp community across Cheshire, North Wales and the North West.
November
As strategic members of the West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce, we were proud to once again support the annual Recognition Awards as official sponsor for the ‘Start Up Business of the Year’ award! A huge congratulations to Nexus Earth Ltd. who took home the trophy, presented by our very own Liam Salisbury. We share more on this special night here.
We also announced our official membership of Elite Leaders as funder of choice – a select group whose aim is to affect real change in the recruitment industry. Read more about our collaboration here.
Finally, we were thrilled to join Blues Against Blood Cancer as sponsors of their flagship fundraiser, with over £3,400 and counting raised for Anthony Nolan and DKMS UK. Plus, Paul and Gareth attended Bermans networking event in Liverpool, helping to raise funds for the Beacon Counselling Trust, Berman’s chosen charity.
December
After a very busy year, December has seen us catch up with clients and friends, including events with Compare Factoring and Praetura, as well as the Countess of Chester Hospital’s Sporting Lunch fundraiser sponsored by HM3 Legal.
We’re thrilled to end on a high with the news that Praetura Lending group has exceeded the key milestone of a £500m loan book – a statistic we are over the moon to have played a key role in.
As we say goodbye to 2024, we’re all looking forward to a well-deserved break and to start the year off strong in 2025. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year all!
