Barnaby Stewart 

As many others, I have applied for so many opportunities with this agency and received ZERO response, I have called, I have left answer phone messages, I have tried to contact them on LinkedIn, and all receive the same response....silence. I understand the current climate is difficult, with covid but this is being used as an excuse for poor service, and performance. In addition, i have applied for positions through Barnaby Stewart for years, well before Covid, so this isn't isolated to the current climate. To put the icing on the cake, I have raised a formal complaint, and just spoken with an individual about this, who was obnoxious, condescending, and quite frankly rude. He did not actually want to let me talk, continually talked over me, had sarcastic answers to statements I made, and was so unprofessional I actually lost my temper and swore (unprofessional on my part) at the individual. In 20 years working in the industry, i have never been spoken to in such a manner by someone from a service focused organisation. They obviously do not care for one second how they treat candidates, as and, this is their words "you have not paid any money to us so why should we care"...... this shows how they view candidates. I would recommend every company and candidate to avoid this recruitment agency and use a company that actually shows some element of regard for people.

Like the others above, i have applied for multiple roles, but heard nothing. I believe it is both lazy and disrespectful after an applicant has taken significant amounts of time to submit an application. It is unfortunately quite common amongst recruitment agencies today, although a few still have that personal touch and treat applicants as humans, not commodities. A large agency like BS can surely at least have an automated reply, if nothing else. The other criticism is the very vague role description and lack of location. This is equivalent to trawling with a large net and again wastes a lot of applicants time, and no doubt generates a large number of irrelevant applications, so wastes BS time. I have recruited through BS previously, but now i have seen how they treat applicants, will carefully consider how applicants are treated before choosing an agency to recruit through in the future. Come on BS, you can do better...the number of poor reviews should not be seen as an attach, but a wake up call.

I could not fault the excellent support and service - would certainly recommend (Helpful & Professional).

I have made numerous applications to Barnaby Stewart for logistics-related positions (in some cases repeated applications for the same vacancy) and I have NEVER received even as much as an acknowledgement.
I have written specific and customised introductory letters and I have a rich and well-filled professional history which merits serious consideration but I never have any reaction from this company whatsoever.
Total waste of time and effort dealing with these people and I would not them my recruiting requirements for my company.

I was a candidate for a senior role with this company and l was very impressed with the level of professional service that was provided. Leon was very competent and helpful with dealing with my concerns about the role. I was kept informed at all times and have accepted the offer for the role. I would not hesitate in using this company for further work in the future.

I too have applied for several roles over the last couple of years and heard nothing back. Interesting their attitude to candidates at my level and others on here as we are also potential fee paying clients in our current or new roles.

Saying they cannot respond to all candidates is lazy and cheap. A short email is all that is needed. Candidates will often work very hard on their application cover letter, perhaps adapt their C.V and for complete silence in return. I like others wonder if this is just a company that collects C.V's and peoples details.

I wouldn’t bother wasting my time applying again and certainly would not use them to hire anyone in my company.

*** UPDATE : Response to Barnaby Stewart reply. I sent a carefully crafted email with my cv to that address on 25/6/18. No response at all. Since then I have enquired about 3-4 jobs. No response. You only need to look at other reviews on here to see my experience of your firm is not isolated. The consistent response of “we get too many applications to respond to everyone” is lazy And ignorant and clearly not welcomed by your candidates. Why not get the person who writes the responses on Trustpilot to write to each candidate, a more much more positive thing to do, even if it is only to thank them for their application and wish them luck in their job search? ***

I have used Barnaby Stewart on both sides of the fence. As a supplier they provided a good selection of candidates with appropriate skills that matched the outline brief. As an individual I had the luck of being placed by them for my last assignment.

In both cases the process has been quick, easy and I have no complaints regarding any of the service that has been provided. I would have no hesitations in engaging with them to source staff for any business I represent. At the moment I have appointed them to seek out new opportunities to develop my career - which is going very well.

Ignore all the previous warnings at your peril. How is this for an opening line from one of their “recruiters” “Hi, what would you say have been your key achievements”, me “well shall we talk about the position I applied for first” recruiter “oh that, oh well errr yeah you wasn't suitable for that, so what would be your key achievements for the past few years” I almost felt embarrassed for her. Honestly, does it get more shameful than this. This is exactly why the recruitment industry has the reputation it does. This company is the embodiment of the absolute embarrassing time wasting amateurs, that tarnishes (or defines) the recruitment industry.

The worst recruiter out there by far. I have applied for over 20 roles in the last few years with them and never heard anything back on any application.

The latest vacancy I have a CV and experience that matches completely to the advert, called them 10 times in a week - every time I call the person responsible has just gone into a meeting, or has just left the office, very convenient - emailed the person direct, still no response.

How any company can trust this one to look after their executive positions is beyond me - how can they put the best people forward for roles if they don't even bother to speak to the candidates to get to know them and what they can offer.

I am starting to believe they make up the roles they apparently have, and the excuse about not being able to get back to candidates due to number of applications does not hold up - every other executive recruiter out there manages it, I have relationships with all others.

If you haven't got time to get back to people that have taken the time to apply, then take on more staff to be able of offer a proper service to your clients and candidates. No one has more roles on offer than Barnaby Stewart, if they are real then they must be making serious money so no excuse to get in staff.

I will never apply for another role advertised by them again, and would recommend you steer clear of them, it will just waste a load of your time.

I've just retired after working with recruitment consultants for 20+ years now. There are only a few mainstream companies that regularly handle £150k jobs. They are well known, have good reviews, develop relationships with potential candidates and generally don't publish jobs and certainly not salaries. A company like Barnaby Stewart that just fires out adverts to get hundreds of responses then doesn't get back to candidates isn't a series business. From my experience, they are just collecting candidate details and their company turnover suggests they aren't filling many roles even if they are advertising them. Maybe the BS stands for something else?

.....And the response from BS echos the experience other people have had. It's my choice not yours that I don't have a working relationship with BS as I invested my time with agencies who spent the time getting to know me and who provided suitable roles over many years.

Most unprofessional and totally working behind a veil of snooty disdainful arrogance. Never a reply and if you call or write any emails, the response is totally non-existent But here on a public forum its only fake, generic and parroted replies. 100's of other Exec recruiters have at least basic courtesy and a decent individual response even though they're busy and dealing with a lot. If you called them up on a follow up you'd atleast get a response. Never, never with these guys.
They advertise top exec roles and seem to project themselves as people seeking the very best and top of the crop. But shamefully don't have even 1% in themselves what they search from others.
Totally fake and absolute waste of time.
I'm also certain the response to this will be typically generic and one of denial, yet again. These guys only respond here and nowhere else.
They need to be reported, investigated and disciplined.

Absolutely awful....would really love to hear from someone who actually got a response from them..i think they are fake...

Unfortunately, I am yet another candidate who has applied for numerous roles and received not one jot of a response. One of the advertised roles had a requirement for very specific experience which I have a huge amount of...surprise surprise no response, not even when emailing the consultant directly.

This company needs to appreciate they are recruiting for very senior positions, and today's candidates will almost definitely be tomorrow's recruiters - I for one would not want my potential employees treated the way BS does.

Take some advice - review your service ethic and actually live up to the candidate charter you have on your website!

Over the past few months I have found the team at Barnaby Stewart to be first class. They take the time to understand both the candidate and the client – this means that they can match up what the client requires and the aspiration of the candidate. I would have no hesitation in contacting them again if I was looking for a role and would be first choice if I was recruiting. From my experience Barnaby Stewart always deliver!

Helped out Leigh Anne Webster with some Branded Merchandise. It was a pleasure to help Barnaby Stewart out by providing them with merchandise that would be beneficial to their cause.

Was I pleasure helping these out with Branded merchandise, and hope to help them out more in the future

This company does not have the courtesy or professionalism to respond to e mails or applications.

I think the copy-paste responses to the comments here says it all.

I too have had zero response to what are very senior positions with 6-figure salaries. Maybe my application is relatively poor, but given the need for leading companies to find innovative approaches to a wide range of business issues, I would have expected at least some interest to find out more.

I work in fields that are acknowledged to be poorly performing, and that will not improve by filling roles with tick-box compliance. People make up this business, and the refusal even to be able to talk about an opportunity is weird.

Maybe rather than be defensive, why not take the feedback and find ways of using it to improve your business? As a procurement director, I would not use BS unless this changed. As a candidate I no longer bother applying if they are the agency.

Over 20 applications made, not one single telephone conversation, so, decided to call them. Eventually, got the MD's email address so dropped him an email, and was accusd of being rude for bringing this to his attention that after so many applications had not once spoke with any consultant! Then, something we did agree on, he decided that that BS were not the right recruitment company for me......

From a candidate perspective, the single worst company I have ever had the pleasure to contact. They will leave you without any answers, and wont correspond with you. Try another company, where you will feel appreciated and valued.

Have never received any acknowledgement regarding job applications made to BS via various recruitment sites. I no longer bother to apply for any roles advertised by BS whether or not my experience is a good fit.

I'm at a loss to comprehend.

I've had one conversation with them which was frankly wierd.

Not a disappointed candidate or anything like. But I would encourage anyone who has been placed by them to correct my understanding.