WEBVTT
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Hi and welcome to Behind the Talent.
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The podcaster takes you beyond the brand and introduces you to the people at the heart of Biotalent.
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In each episode, we'll give you a glimpse into the voices and stories of the individuals driving our mission and shaping our business.
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In this episode, our brand manager Becca catches up with Biotalent CEO James Cox for a quick chat about the people behind the brand and what makes the team so unique.
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Thanks for tuning in, we hope you enjoy.
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I'm Becca, the brand manager, and today we are joined by Biotalent CEO and founder James Cox.
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James launched BioTalent back in 2018 to revolutionise STEM recruitment.
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And when they joined the In Group back in 2023, the brand has gone from strength to strength, and that's not just because I work on it.
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James is a great leader and very much has the respect from everyone in the team, and I find him amazing to work with with his positive attitude and refreshing take on recruitment.
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On a personal level, James is friendly, approachable, and always is ready to chat, even when he is running between meetings.
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So thank you, James.
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We've only got 10 minutes, let's kick this off.
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Okay, so I briefly touched on what you do, but do you think you could tell us more about your current role as CEO, about biotalent and your professional background?
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Yes, so I guess if I start at the beginning, so my background has always been sales, and I've always had a little bit of an entrepreneurial streak.
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So I've had a couple of very small businesses.
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One designing websites, promoting them, selling advertising space, and then uh yeah, sales whilst I was going through university, and I kind of fell into recruitment as most people do, and ended up doing life science recruitment, always liked science, find it very interesting.
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So done a bit of science, and yeah, that's where life sciences came from, to be honest.
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So from there, started in poem recruitment, then worked my way up year two.
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I got given the opportunity to go to London, open a London office, my whole business.
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So opened London office and grew it to about 30 heads and that covered probably UK, Germany, Switzerland at the time.
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And then I decided to want to go and do it myself.
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So I launched Biotalent seven years ago, and took it from yeah, literally me and one other person when we first launched, and scaled to where we are now, which is about 60 people across six offices covering DAC, Ben Lux, UK and the US markets.
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Love it.
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So you said obviously science, you always liked it.
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Like what was it that drew you to it and how when did you know that you wanted to work in that space?
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So I guess it was more wanting to what the outcome was going to be rather than wanting to work specifically in life sciences for me.
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So for me, it was always about where can I have the best and quickest career potential and have fun along the way, but also make as much money as I could to be completely honest.
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So that's why I did recruitment.
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Life sciences felt more interesting than looking at say financial services, which we had some other offers at the time.
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So yeah, it was I guess it was a combination of I like the sciences full stop, although not necessarily just life sciences, um, so did physics, and I did geography and geology at A-level, so quite niche.
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Random, I don't think I even had the option to do that.
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Yeah, fair.
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You've said entrepreneurial, you've lots of different businesses.
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What is your favourite thing about buyer talent and now being part of the Ingroup?
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Uh obviously the marketing team, no.
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Why are we laughing about that?
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Uh so like to be honest, the my favourite thing is the people, like, we work most of our lives with people that we work with, and so who you work with, the culture, the atmosphere is so important, and like genuinely that is the best thing about biotalent.
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I think we've got some incredible people in the business.
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Oh, mantra is we want to hire the top five percent, uh, and I genuinely think we've got that within Biotalent.
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And one of the main attractions about TIG was that was also the similar mantra, is that yeah, really high performance?
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If you compare the productivity to other businesses in the space, like TIG blows them out of the water, so that was really attractive to move somewhere we could learn and take that even further.
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And to be honest, that's exceeded expectations.
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Love that, and then you know, look, you've worked in recruitment for ages, been in life science space, you're a CEO.
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Like, how has sort of leadership in these companies changed and evolved, and like how do you think it is going?
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Um, I mean leadership definitely changes.
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I like I guess I've always naturally been a leader, so a bit cheesy.
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I was head boy at school, uh, captain tennis team.
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I can see that.
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I can see that, yeah.
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Captain tennis team, um, still do a lot of tennis, president of tennis university.
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So I did a lot of like just naturally putting myself in those positions, and I like to think that I'm pretty unflappable, like I don't normally get stressed, but I also don't normally get over excited.
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So I'm normally quite a level-headed person.
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People know what they're gonna get when they approach me, I'm not gonna shout at them, but I'm also not gonna just talk about myself all the time when they speak to me.
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So that I guess is my foundation for leadership, and then for me, my whole thing is focusing on what you can control.
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Like, so you can control things, you can influence things, and so many people spend all the time focusing on things they can't control or influence, and it just stresses you out.
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So for me, I always try to make sure that yeah, leading from the front, do what I say I'm gonna do, be approachable, empathetic, but still at high standards.
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So I'm very ambitious.
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I think one of my supplementary tests is I don't suffer fools gladly.
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That's good or bad, but uh yeah, for me that's always been my approach.
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Yeah, I actually don't think I could ever see me stressed, so I do agree with that.
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Under the skin, I'm like how I spoke.
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Yeah, fine.
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I'd love to say the same.
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Okay, so you've just said you don't talk about yourself a lot, but that's exactly what we're gonna do.
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So we've heard about professional side but personal side now.
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So, what book or podcast are you reading or listening to at the moment?
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So, podcast, I I like the high performance podcast.
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I listen to that pretty much every week on my lengthy community.
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Um, so that's the main one, and then I listen to some sport ones, nothing too business related.
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Uh, that's what I mainly listen to, and then reading.
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I love when you have you might be surprised why not, but I love books about Vikings.
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Do you?
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Yeah, like The Last Kingdom, which be on BBC recently, uh Vikings being on Netflix.
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Don't know why, I don't like things that aren't real.
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So like drawing.
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Why you're growing the beard?
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Maybe the beard's just because I'm too lazy to show.
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But the I'd like things which are fake, not for me.
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But I like historical books.
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Cool.
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Well shout out shout out to Damien, you know, I did a podcast with him, so whoop whoop.
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He's definitely still listening.
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Okay, what do you enjoy when you are not working?
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So when I'm not working, uh most of my time and where my my happiness is, is with my family.
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So I've got a wife and we've here for 18 years, 18 years.
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Um, and then two young kids, so Zoe who's almost six, and Rupert's two and a half, a lot of time with them.
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Uh and then when I'm not with them, normally outside, like we're all very outdoors, family, walks, beaches, mountains, skiing, tennis, all of the above.
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Love that.
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As much as possible.
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Wow, you must have met quite young.
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Yes.
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Head girl, headboy.
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Oh, so sweet.
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Very cheesy.
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We both met both met A levels.
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Yeah, oh that's so sweet.
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Okay, you're very sporty, you said outsidey.
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So if you could compete in the Olympics, what sport would you do?
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Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics.
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You'll pick.
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So, well, Winter Olympics, downhill skiing.
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Yeah, fair.
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Summer Olympics, tennis.
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Really?
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Tennis.
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Not paddle.
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I mean Nick Nick was on here saying that he wants paddle to get in the Olympics so he can be in.
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He probably will one day, but I know tennis, I prefer tennis to paddle.
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Okay, fair enough.
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What was your first ever job?
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My first ever job was working in a garden centre carrying compost and renewal to people's cars.
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Pas a specific job, just that that year.
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Wow.
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Yeah.
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That's well, you know.
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Gotta get the strength up.
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I like it.
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Did you ever progress from camera stuff to carry?
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I worked when it was what occasionally managed to work on the till.
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So do check out in the garden centre.
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But mainly just checked outside.
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Yeah.
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And then Marks and Spencer's.
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Oh, okay.
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Yeah.
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And then I'd loads the jobs.
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Yeah, love it.
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Okay, we're doing a rapid fire round now.
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Teams meeting or in person?
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In person.
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Summer or winter?
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Winter.
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Morning or evening?
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Evening.
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Climb a mountain or skydive?
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Climb a mountain.
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Cats or dogs?
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Dogs.
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When watching TV shows, one at a time or binge?
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Binge.
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Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
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A comedian.
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They're both.
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Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?
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That's a good question.
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I would go to the future.
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Really?
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But you couldn't want to go back and see the Vikings.
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I like reading them, reading about the name that I wouldn't survive.
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Are you more of a thinker or a doer?
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A doer.
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You've got kids, but everyone likes a board game.
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What's your favourite?
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Monopoly.
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Do you have a particular colour that you like?
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I do.
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What one?
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I like oranges.
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Oranges are statistically the best ones to get.
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Isn't it red?
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No.
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Really?
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Fat.
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I like the reds though, so we'll go with that.
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And finally, bringing it back to the career, what is your best piece of advice that you've been given that you have carried with you?
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I think the best thing I've been given is to like focus, like comes back to control things, like focus what you can control.
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You can't get pissed off or grumpy with other people if they don't do something that impacts you.
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You just got to control what you can do.
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Obviously, it's frustrating, but often you can let things overwhelm you or knock you off track.
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Whereas in reality, there are very few things that you personally can control.
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Like your attitude, how you turn up to the office, how you turn up to every single day.
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That's only you can dictate that.
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So that's probably the best bit of advice I got pretty early on was be honest, be transparent, and like control you.
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I love it.
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Well, James, we this is actually very on time.
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I reckon we'll be under 10 minutes here, so I like it.
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Thank you for listening.
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Thank you.
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Hi and welcome to Behind the Talent.
00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:10.880
The podcaster takes you beyond the brand and introduces you to the people at the heart of Biotalent.
00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:18.640
In each episode, we'll give you a glimpse into the voices and stories of the individuals driving our mission and shaping our business.
00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:28.719
In this episode, our brand manager Becca catches up with Biotalent CEO James Cox for a quick chat about the people behind the brand and what makes the team so unique.
00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.000
Thanks for tuning in, we hope you enjoy.
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:40.240
I'm Becca, the brand manager, and today we are joined by Biotalent CEO and founder James Cox.
00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:45.600
James launched BioTalent back in 2018 to revolutionise STEM recruitment.
00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:53.280
And when they joined the In Group back in 2023, the brand has gone from strength to strength, and that's not just because I work on it.
00:00:53.679 --> 00:01:04.319
James is a great leader and very much has the respect from everyone in the team, and I find him amazing to work with with his positive attitude and refreshing take on recruitment.
00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:11.760
On a personal level, James is friendly, approachable, and always is ready to chat, even when he is running between meetings.
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So thank you, James.
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We've only got 10 minutes, let's kick this off.
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Okay, so I briefly touched on what you do, but do you think you could tell us more about your current role as CEO, about biotalent and your professional background?
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Yes, so I guess if I start at the beginning, so my background has always been sales, and I've always had a little bit of an entrepreneurial streak.
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So I've had a couple of very small businesses.
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One designing websites, promoting them, selling advertising space, and then uh yeah, sales whilst I was going through university, and I kind of fell into recruitment as most people do, and ended up doing life science recruitment, always liked science, find it very interesting.
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So done a bit of science, and yeah, that's where life sciences came from, to be honest.
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So from there, started in poem recruitment, then worked my way up year two.
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I got given the opportunity to go to London, open a London office, my whole business.
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So opened London office and grew it to about 30 heads and that covered probably UK, Germany, Switzerland at the time.
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And then I decided to want to go and do it myself.
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So I launched Biotalent seven years ago, and took it from yeah, literally me and one other person when we first launched, and scaled to where we are now, which is about 60 people across six offices covering DAC, Ben Lux, UK and the US markets.
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Love it.
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So you said obviously science, you always liked it.
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Like what was it that drew you to it and how when did you know that you wanted to work in that space?
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So I guess it was more wanting to what the outcome was going to be rather than wanting to work specifically in life sciences for me.
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So for me, it was always about where can I have the best and quickest career potential and have fun along the way, but also make as much money as I could to be completely honest.
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So that's why I did recruitment.
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Life sciences felt more interesting than looking at say financial services, which we had some other offers at the time.
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So yeah, it was I guess it was a combination of I like the sciences full stop, although not necessarily just life sciences, um, so did physics, and I did geography and geology at A-level, so quite niche.
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Random, I don't think I even had the option to do that.
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Yeah, fair.
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You've said entrepreneurial, you've lots of different businesses.
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What is your favourite thing about buyer talent and now being part of the Ingroup?
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Uh obviously the marketing team, no.
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Why are we laughing about that?
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Uh so like to be honest, the my favourite thing is the people, like, we work most of our lives with people that we work with, and so who you work with, the culture, the atmosphere is so important, and like genuinely that is the best thing about biotalent.
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I think we've got some incredible people in the business.
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Oh, mantra is we want to hire the top five percent, uh, and I genuinely think we've got that within Biotalent.
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And one of the main attractions about TIG was that was also the similar mantra, is that yeah, really high performance?
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If you compare the productivity to other businesses in the space, like TIG blows them out of the water, so that was really attractive to move somewhere we could learn and take that even further.
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And to be honest, that's exceeded expectations.
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Love that, and then you know, look, you've worked in recruitment for ages, been in life science space, you're a CEO.
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Like, how has sort of leadership in these companies changed and evolved, and like how do you think it is going?
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Um, I mean leadership definitely changes.
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I like I guess I've always naturally been a leader, so a bit cheesy.
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I was head boy at school, uh, captain tennis team.
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I can see that.
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I can see that, yeah.
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Captain tennis team, um, still do a lot of tennis, president of tennis university.
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So I did a lot of like just naturally putting myself in those positions, and I like to think that I'm pretty unflappable, like I don't normally get stressed, but I also don't normally get over excited.
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So I'm normally quite a level-headed person.
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People know what they're gonna get when they approach me, I'm not gonna shout at them, but I'm also not gonna just talk about myself all the time when they speak to me.
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So that I guess is my foundation for leadership, and then for me, my whole thing is focusing on what you can control.
00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:21.920
Like, so you can control things, you can influence things, and so many people spend all the time focusing on things they can't control or influence, and it just stresses you out.
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:29.519
So for me, I always try to make sure that yeah, leading from the front, do what I say I'm gonna do, be approachable, empathetic, but still at high standards.
00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:30.959
So I'm very ambitious.
00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.879
I think one of my supplementary tests is I don't suffer fools gladly.
00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.879
That's good or bad, but uh yeah, for me that's always been my approach.
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.720
Yeah, I actually don't think I could ever see me stressed, so I do agree with that.
00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.399
Under the skin, I'm like how I spoke.
00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:45.199
Yeah, fine.
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.040
I'd love to say the same.
00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:51.519
Okay, so you've just said you don't talk about yourself a lot, but that's exactly what we're gonna do.
00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:55.199
So we've heard about professional side but personal side now.
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:59.680
So, what book or podcast are you reading or listening to at the moment?
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.240
So, podcast, I I like the high performance podcast.
00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:07.839
I listen to that pretty much every week on my lengthy community.
00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:14.319
Um, so that's the main one, and then I listen to some sport ones, nothing too business related.
00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.000
Uh, that's what I mainly listen to, and then reading.
00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:22.720
I love when you have you might be surprised why not, but I love books about Vikings.
00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:23.360
Do you?
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:29.600
Yeah, like The Last Kingdom, which be on BBC recently, uh Vikings being on Netflix.
00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.399
Don't know why, I don't like things that aren't real.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:33.120
So like drawing.
00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:34.240
Why you're growing the beard?
00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:36.639
Maybe the beard's just because I'm too lazy to show.
00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:41.920
But the I'd like things which are fake, not for me.
00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:44.639
But I like historical books.
00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:45.199
Cool.
00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:50.079
Well shout out shout out to Damien, you know, I did a podcast with him, so whoop whoop.
00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:52.319
He's definitely still listening.
00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.759
Okay, what do you enjoy when you are not working?
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:04.160
So when I'm not working, uh most of my time and where my my happiness is, is with my family.
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:08.319
So I've got a wife and we've here for 18 years, 18 years.
00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:14.319
Um, and then two young kids, so Zoe who's almost six, and Rupert's two and a half, a lot of time with them.
00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:23.680
Uh and then when I'm not with them, normally outside, like we're all very outdoors, family, walks, beaches, mountains, skiing, tennis, all of the above.
00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:24.399
Love that.
00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:25.120
As much as possible.
00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:26.720
Wow, you must have met quite young.
00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:28.000
Yes.
00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:29.920
Head girl, headboy.
00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:32.560
Oh, so sweet.
00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:33.279
Very cheesy.
00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.120
We both met both met A levels.
00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:37.040
Yeah, oh that's so sweet.
00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.920
Okay, you're very sporty, you said outsidey.
00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:42.639
So if you could compete in the Olympics, what sport would you do?
00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.399
Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics.
00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:45.519
You'll pick.
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.319
So, well, Winter Olympics, downhill skiing.
00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:48.959
Yeah, fair.
00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:50.800
Summer Olympics, tennis.
00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:51.759
Really?
00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:52.720
Tennis.
00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:53.439
Not paddle.
00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.360
I mean Nick Nick was on here saying that he wants paddle to get in the Olympics so he can be in.
00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.800
He probably will one day, but I know tennis, I prefer tennis to paddle.
00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:02.160
Okay, fair enough.
00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.360
What was your first ever job?
00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:10.800
My first ever job was working in a garden centre carrying compost and renewal to people's cars.
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:13.519
Pas a specific job, just that that year.
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:16.639
Wow.
00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:17.279
Yeah.
00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:18.639
That's well, you know.
00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:20.160
Gotta get the strength up.
00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:20.800
I like it.
00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.360
Did you ever progress from camera stuff to carry?
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.319
I worked when it was what occasionally managed to work on the till.
00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.040
So do check out in the garden centre.
00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:31.279
But mainly just checked outside.
00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:32.000
Yeah.
00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:33.440
And then Marks and Spencer's.
00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:34.080
Oh, okay.
00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:34.399
Yeah.
00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:35.759
And then I'd loads the jobs.
00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.279
Yeah, love it.
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:39.840
Okay, we're doing a rapid fire round now.
00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.919
Teams meeting or in person?
00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:43.600
In person.
00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.120
Summer or winter?
00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:45.919
Winter.
00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:47.200
Morning or evening?
00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:48.000
Evening.
00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:49.840
Climb a mountain or skydive?
00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:50.960
Climb a mountain.
00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:52.080
Cats or dogs?
00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:52.799
Dogs.
00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.480
When watching TV shows, one at a time or binge?
00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:57.919
Binge.
00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:00.720
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.080
A comedian.
00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:03.360
They're both.
00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.240
Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:10.559
That's a good question.
00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:12.559
I would go to the future.
00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:13.360
Really?
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.440
But you couldn't want to go back and see the Vikings.
00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:20.080
I like reading them, reading about the name that I wouldn't survive.
00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:24.799
Are you more of a thinker or a doer?
00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:26.080
A doer.
00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:29.120
You've got kids, but everyone likes a board game.
00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:29.919
What's your favourite?
00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:31.120
Monopoly.
00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:33.360
Do you have a particular colour that you like?
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:33.840
I do.
00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:34.480
What one?
00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:35.679
I like oranges.
00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.039
Oranges are statistically the best ones to get.
00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:39.919
Isn't it red?
00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:40.399
No.
00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:40.879
Really?
00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:42.159
Fat.
00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.720
I like the reds though, so we'll go with that.
00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:54.080
And finally, bringing it back to the career, what is your best piece of advice that you've been given that you have carried with you?
00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:00.399
I think the best thing I've been given is to like focus, like comes back to control things, like focus what you can control.
00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:06.240
You can't get pissed off or grumpy with other people if they don't do something that impacts you.
00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:07.759
You just got to control what you can do.
00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.360
Obviously, it's frustrating, but often you can let things overwhelm you or knock you off track.
00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.639
Whereas in reality, there are very few things that you personally can control.
00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:20.240
Like your attitude, how you turn up to the office, how you turn up to every single day.
00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.159
That's only you can dictate that.
00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:27.519
So that's probably the best bit of advice I got pretty early on was be honest, be transparent, and like control you.
00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:28.799
I love it.
00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:31.759
Well, James, we this is actually very on time.
00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:34.320
I reckon we'll be under 10 minutes here, so I like it.
00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:35.440
Thank you for listening.
00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:36.399
Thank you.
