Class People has just been nominated for another award. It all looks like plain sailing for Naomi Howells, the second generation leading the successful family firm. If only you knew the whole story!  

This week our blog comes from guest writer Andrew Merrell, founder and lead journalist of The Raikes Journal who first published this article in The Raikes Journal on 11th October 2024.

  

It can all look so rosy from the outside for that next generation lucky enough to take over the fully formed and successful family business. But imagine if shortly after becoming the new boss, with all eyes on you, your first job is to rescue that business and rebuild it all over again.   

Naomi Howells had just that challenge – and more.  

Her mother, Lynis Bassett, had founded and spent the best part of 20 years growing Class People into an award-winning teacher recruitment specialist, with Howells working alongside her for much of that time.   

The intention had never actually been to build ‘a family business’, but at the end of 2023 it was revealed the Cheltenham-headquartered firm had been subject to a management buyout and Howells was the new owner.  

Neither was it Howell’s intention to ever buy out her mother, but suddenly it felt right. She had worked her way up through the ranks, first joining the firm in 2011 as a recruitment consultant and later establishing its first regional branch in Bristol before going on to become managing director in 2019.   

While her decision to take over the business may have surprised her, her ambition to succeed has always been there. From when she left Pate’s Grammar School she had wanted to work and loved to rise to a challenge.   

“Both me and my brother have been brought up with a very strong work ethic. I think I was honest about where I wanted to be,” she said.  

All plain sailing so far then. It certainly started well.  

“Leading up to March 2020 we had one of our best performing years we have ever had. It was going really well.  

“I recall that March we had a couple of schools calling to say they would take all the staff we had. It was fantastic,” said Howells, who exudes energy, focus and organisation.    

But then came the bombshell that changed everything - the Coronavirus pandemic.  

Overnight schools closed to pupils and looked to save money anywhere they could. When the lockdowns and social distancing passed the world had changed.   

The needs of schools were different, expectations different, relationships needed rebuilding, and the already competitive marketplace was now hyper competitive.  

If Class People was to survive Howells needed to discover her inner entrepreneur, and fast.   

“I now have a young son and moved house too,” she adds, smiling at the thought now, but over the last four years it is like everything arrived at once.  

“I must give credit to Lynis. It was my first few months as managing director and she came back to see us for two days a week to start with,” she admits.   

Bassett remains Class People’s chief executive officer.   

Howells may outwardly ooze confidence and enthusiasm, and has not been afraid to take responsibility, be creative and make decisions, but as far as she is concerned she’s still at the start of a learning curve.   

She’s one of an increasing number using the programmes provided by Gloucester-headquartered leadership development specialists QuoLux.   

“It is real time learning, rather than being theory. You apply it to your business right away,” said Howells.  

“You have to ask yourself some tough questions, but you mix with other business leaders from your cohort and you can talk about what you are doing and ask what works for them.   

“You learn how to have those difficult conversations and to understand how to find solutions. It makes you self-reliant, adds critical thinking to your process. You begin to always ask yourself ‘is this working?’.    

“I like being in the room with other people who are already successful and trying to keep up with them. It brings out the best in you. You want to be in that pack,” she explained, laughing at how competitive she sounds.  

So, what exactly are those challenges she had to face to steer Class People past the Covid-19 pandemic and what were the solutions and the lessons?  

“We have had to question ourselves in terms of how we position ourselves in the market and what we are providing.   

“We had always traded on Lynis’s story. She was a teacher who came out of the classroom and set up her own business and it was a powerful story.   

“When she started there was no one else doing what she was doing, so there were a lot of candidates and there was a lot of growth.  

“And as is the way, when one agency has some good success, others pile in and try and do the same thing. That’s why we had to change.  

“We’re on a different trajectory now. Pre-covid we were three offices and 18-20 people and an extra office in Bristol. Most of us were in Cheltenham.”  

Those staff numbers slimmed down dramatically as a result of the pandemic, with not only the marketplace but also working practices changing dramatically too.  

“Post-covid we didn’t need the office and realised we could work from home. It was then we started to rebuild the business. We had to think hard about what else we could do.   

“It could no longer just be about placing candidates in the classroom. Some of it was about doing what we already did, but doing it even better with even more attention to detail.”   

What she realised was that Class People had accumulated incredible knowledge about its sector that was potentially valuable to its clients, not just how to source, find and place good teachers, but about what else schools needed and how to help them get it.  

It began to develop as a consultancy for schools too.  

But even how it sourced staff began to change too. It realised schools wanted not just teachers, but classroom assistants and other staff too and Howells felt Class People could be proactive.  

“We knew there were a lot of people leaving the care sectors post covid who have a lot of the softer skills schools need,” she said.  

“Could we not set up training programmes to help them get into education?  

“We already knew that placing the right candidates can also help with a school’s budget.  

“We also wanted to change the narrative about working in education. We wanted to ask ‘why would you not work in education and make a difference?’”  

It quickly began to package up its other niche expertise to present to schools. It’s early days, but it’s working and schools are benefitting.  

“We can work with schools and with business managers to find the opportunities that can deliver them additional funding too.   

“Our pilot schemes estimated we were saving schools north of £50,000 by finding the right people and other advice we give.   

“Schools can trial the candidate and if they like them, they can take them on permanently.  

“We can literally take someone from the job centre, train them and help them find a new job in a new sector.   

“We can support schools with their special educational needs. It is about improving candidates and bringing candidates into education.   

“It has been quite challenging to have to go back to the drawing board to work out how to do that.  

“Schools are so busy that they are firefighting, which often means that they cannot plan ahead. Perhaps the biggest challenge has been to get schools to listen and understand that we can save them money, that we are not just trying to fill a booking.   

“But that is where I’m hoping to get more new growth. A lot of it is about developing those partnerships. How can we form better partnerships and make a better education sector in our area?”  

The experience of navigating the business through the pandemic also taught her a lot about herself and what sort of a business she wanted Class People to be.   

“What I did experience is the credibility of particular people. Supply staff were hit really, really badly. Some schools saw it as a cost-saving exercise. They had maternity cover, but they would just drop the temporary teacher.   

“But there were some others that stood by their teachers and looked after them.   

“Supply teachers are a valuable commodity and should be treated with respect.  

“It is important to look after the staff. Some of the challenges the schools are experiencing now stem from that.  

“If you treat staff well you help make teaching a long-term profession and schools will win.”  

When she reflects on it now, as she sees the new business emerging, will she admit that just maybe it has also been an enjoyable journey - facing up to everything and coming out winning?  

For someone who does not shy away from a challenge, her answer surprises.   

“It has been very difficult at times. I don’t like problems. I don’t like confrontation, so when things go wrong I always look at how I can stop it happening again and make things better,” she says, modestly, perhaps putting her finger on a quality that is more important than she realises.    

Indeed, it can’t be going too badly. In April 2024 she walked away the winner in the Business Desk’s Young Leader Award at the South West Leadership Awards in the under 35 category.  

 

Lynis Bassett and Naomi Howells

 

And Class People has also just been shortlisted in the Education Today’s School and Supplier Awards for Overall Supplier of the Year.  

Howells concludes, “This recognition goes beyond just awards – it’s a reflection of our business strategy, which prioritises ‘purpose before profit’ and emphasises our commitment to working in service of the local community. Being finalists for these awards is not only an honour but it highlights the hard work our team puts in to championing ESG initiatives and upholds the principles of the QuoLux™ Good Dividends framework. We’re proud to support the education sector with an unwavering focus on making a positive, lasting framework.” 

 

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