About Opal Recruitment Ltd
Opal Recruitment Ltd went operational on Monday 2nd October 2000 and since then has been successfully placing candidates into a wide variety of roles within the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare industries. Including Trainee Medical Representatives, Nurse Advisors, Regulatory Affairs, Hospital Representatives, Training Officers, Business Development Managers, Regional Managers, Marketing Managers…….etc.
Director Jill Wright now has over a decade of experience within this recruitment sector. Prior to this she worked in both the Pharmaceutical Industry (Medical Representative for Bencard and Trainer for Beecham Research and then SmithKline Beecham) and within European equipment & disposables (Product Manager, Training Manager and then Commercial Services Manager for UnoPlast UK Ltd).
The idea behind Opal Recruitment Ltd is simple, explained Jill "We hope to make the dream of providing good customer service a reality; for Candidates and Clients. No fuss, no frills, just hard work and commitment, using the technology available - aiming to get it right first time."
Jill Wright
Born & educated in South East London. Left school in 1977 with A Levels to commence a career as a Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer (M.L.S.O.) at Greenwich District Hospital. Successfully completed an HNC in Histology & Cytology and gained State Registration in 1980. Went on to pass the Fellowship Examination in Histopathology (with Cytology & Immunology) and became a Fellow of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences (F.I.M.L.S.) - gaining promotion to Senior M.L.S.O. with special responsibility for Auto-Immune Diseases.
Left the NHS at the beginning of 1985 to take up the post of Head of Histology & Cytology with MetPath (UK) Ltd, a private Pathology Service based in Hammersmith, London. Successfully ran a profitable department serving private UK and mainly Middle Eastern clients.
Relocated to South Hampshire in the summer of 1986, joining Bencard (part of Beecham Research) as a Medical Representative. Covered a territory from Basingstoke to Aldershot to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight - including Primary Care, Secondary Care, Military Installations, Prisons, Retail and Wholesale Pharmacies - both for ethical POM (Prescription Only Medicines) products and OTC (Over The Counter) lines. Passed the ABPI (Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry) with Distinction in 1987. Completed Train the Trainer and Coaching Skills courses, undertaking some Field Training and ITC (Induction Training Course) responsibilities.
Promoted in the Autumn of 1988 to Training Officer within the Beecham Research Training Department, undertaking Sales & Product Training of both new and experienced Representatives, in-house and field-based throughout the UK (50:50).
Following the merger to form SmithKline Beecham at the end of 1989 became the Anti-Infectives Training Officer for the UK, concentrating mainly on these core products, e.g. Amoxil, Augmentin, Bactroban and Vaccines.
In August 1990 chose to gain experience in Marketing with a "non-Pharmaceutical" Healthcare Company, UnoPlast UK Ltd, part of UnoPlast A/S (Denmark) taking on the role of Product Manager for their wide range of disposables & devices, plus Training of the small UK Field Force. Products ranged from simple disposable catheters to Cardiology and Urology implants, supplied by a variety of European partner Companies, mainly Denmark, Germany & France, but also included Finland & Austria. Over the next 4 years took on increasing responsibilities, including all Training, Technical Support (Internal & External Customers), Customer Service / Sales and Stock Control / Warehousing / Logistics (mainly imports from Europe / Scandinavia) - being given the title Commercial Services Manager and responsibility for 5 members of staff as well as Distributor & Supplier Liaison.
Following a company take-over in 1995, which required relocation, accepted an offer to move into Recruitment with Sutcliffe Selection. Having been out of Pharmaceuticals for some 5 years, undertook a 6 months Contract Representative role with Evans Medical on behalf of Sutcliffe Selection to gain up to date knowledge of the market place. Covered Primary & Secondary Care in Berkshire & Surrey, successfully achieving call rates and sales targets for the period. On completion, joined Sutcliffe Selection as a Recruitment Consultant in May 1996, going on to successfully place a wide range of Candidates from Trainee Pharmaceutical Representatives through to Managing Director level with a small "disposables" Company.
Clients ranged from small privately owned Companies up to large multinational Blue Chip Pharmaceutical Companies, dealing with permanent placements and some contract positions. Following the merger to form Futures Resourcing Ltd, took up the role of Senior Resourcing Consultant in February 2000. In addition to "standard" interviewing & placement duties, other areas of responsibility included Assignment Management and considerable IT preparation & support.
Wanting to bring together all previous experience and wishing to offer a Customer Driven Service (for both Clients & Candidates) within the Healthcare market, formed Opal Recruitment Ltd in October 2000. Whilst the majority of business is in permanent placements, occasional Contract Personnel have been managed and several Training Courses / Sessions have been successfully undertaken.
Clients have ranged from large multinational Blue Chip Pharmaceutical Companies through to small, privately owned "non-Pharmaceutical" Healthcare companies. Candidates have ranged from International Marketing Managers through to Trainee Medical Representatives - from a variety of backgrounds and a wide range of ages (youngest placement so far was 20 years old - oldest placement so far was 67 years old).