APSCo Celebrates 10 Years of Partnership with Adepto

As Adepto marks its 10th year in business and as a proud APSCo member, we sat down with Lee Knowles, co-founder of the specialist engineering and technical recruitment business, to reflect on a decade of growth, change, and collaboration with APSCo.  

You can watch the full interview with Lee here or scroll down for some highlights from the chat.

Founded a decade ago, Adepto has carved a niche in engineering and technical recruitment, with a specialist focus on chemical manufacturing and life sciences. 

“You don’t necessarily need to be a big fish in a big pond,” said Lee. “Being a big fish in a smaller pond works just as well - and that’s how we’ve built our foundation.” 

 

“More recently, we’ve expanded into Managed Service Provision (MSP), where we manage contingent workforce programmes for clients across EMEA - including a major chemical manufacturing organisation. We've also taken steps toward international growth, with a U.S. office launching soon and expanded services across Europe. Despite the growth, our core remains in delivering compliant, high-value recruitment services in complex, technical fields.” 

 

How long have you been an APSCo member? 

“We joined APSCo from day one - upon incorporation. I’d had a long-standing awareness of APSCo from earlier in my career. We wanted access to that sort of treasure box of information that APSCo offers small businesses.  

When you’re setting up a small business, you want to be able to get to the core function of selling and beginning to make money as quickly as possible. Which means that you need as much of that infrastructure that surrounds the business in place.  

 

So for example, putting the right policies and procedures in place and your compliance documentation. And I knew that by joining APSCo, we’d be able to get access to all of that information.” 

What made you choose APSCo over any alternatives at the time? 

“I knew APSCo better than other organisations, but the other aspect is that APSCo is known for representing the more white collar, professional end of recruitment, which is exactly where we’re placing ourselves.” 

How has APSCo supported you over the years?

“The support has evolved with us. Initially, it was all about access to documentation and the information needed to get the business off the ground. But over time, we’ve utilised other aspects of the services that APSCo can offer.  

It’s got a community feel to it – the events, for example, cover all sorts of subject matters and geographies. It allows you to network with like-minded people, exchange ideas with other members, and learn from each other’s experiences.  

 

We’ve also found APSCo’s legal support really helpful. In today’s world, client contracts are increasingly complex and having access to expert advice when negotiating terms has been invaluable. 

 

We've got umbrella regulation around the corner, and I've always stayed closely connected with APSCo because they have strong links into Parliament. That’s been really helpful in overcoming some of the bigger challenges. As a recruitment business owner, the problems you face aren’t usually sales-related. The real gaps often lie in areas like HR, finance, and legal - things you previously had teams to support you with. When you go it alone, you can be left without that support and APSCo has been brilliant at helping to fill those gaps." 

How has your business changed over the last 10 years? 

“The business has changed a lot over the last 10 years - we've really scaled. We now employ around 25 people, which brings with it all kinds of new considerations around people and processes. 

 

When we started, we were a fairly traditional, dual-desk technical and engineering recruitment agency, focused mainly on permanent and contract roles. That’s still an important part of what we do, and we're still very UK-centric, but we've evolved significantly. 

 

In recent years, we’ve added an MSP offering and now run an EMEA-wide MSP for a major chemical manufacturing company, managing all of their contract resources across Europe. We’ve also started expanding internationally - we’ve spent the past 12 months setting up an office in the US, which is going live in the next few weeks. That’s incredibly exciting. So we’ve grown in terms of service offering, geographical coverage, and team diversity. If you’d told me 10 years ago that we’d look like this today, I wouldn’t have believed it - but it’s a great place to be." 

What has that meant for the support you’ve needed? 

 

“I think the support you need evolves as the business becomes more sophisticated. The US side of things, in particular, was a big one for us. Nick and I went on the APSCo USA delegation with Ann and the team almost exactly two years ago, and it was hugely valuable. For us, it was all about market exploration - understanding how trading works in the US, meeting potential suppliers, and getting to grips with tax and legal structures in a way that was clear and easy to absorb. It really helped us understand what we’d need to do and who we’d need to talk to in order to get set up. 

 

On a personal level, I’ve also become more involved with APSCo in recent years. I think I’ve become a bit more politically engaged as I’ve got older - much more interested in legislation that affects the industry, whether that’s off-payroll rules, day-one rights, or the upcoming umbrella regulation. 

 

Rather than just reacting when these things land, I’ve found real value in getting ahead of them. APSCo’s brilliant at that — they’ve got great access to Parliament and help you feel like you can have a say. It’s even got me writing to my MP about all sorts of industry issues.” 

What would you say to anyone considering joining APSCo? 

“It’s a no-brainer. 

Starting a business is tough - you need to focus on revenue quickly, but there are countless unknowns and things you don’t even realise you don’t know. APSCo fills in those gaps: policies, procedures, compliance, documentation. It’s not just about filling jobs anymore - it’s about solving complex client problems and managing risk. APSCo helps you understand that landscape and add value to your clients beyond recruitment.” 

What’s ahead for Adepto? What does the next 10 years look like? 

“We’ve always had a clear direction, but we're also open to opportunity. Right now, our focus is on launching and scaling in the USA - we’ve already been supplying there, but getting boots on the ground is the next step. 

We’re also looking at expanding further into Europe, particularly building on our MSP platform. The UK will always be our home and a key part of our business. The last few years haven’t been easy for anyone, but we’re committed to growing in our core market while continuing to evolve internationally.” 

Ready to future-proof your recruitment business?

Whether you're just starting out or scaling internationally like Adepto, APSCo gives you the tools, insights, and connections to succeed. From expert legal support to political advocacy, global market insight to compliance resources - APSCo is the partner behind ambitious recruitment businesses.