In this episode of Founder Diaries, host Nitin Sharma sits down with Chris Peace, former Hayes top biller turned founder of the award-winning Peace Recruitment, to unpack his incredible journey from launching a business during the 2008 recession to achieving a multimillion-pound exit — and finding renewed purpose as a business coach and co-founder of the Impact Board.

Chris opens up about:

• Leaving corporate comfort at Hayes to start a business at the worst economic time imaginable.
• Building Peace Recruitment from his kitchen table into one of Scotland’s top construction and property recruitment firms.
• The turning point when tragedy struck and he realised the importance of building a proper, compliant, and sellable business.
• How he transformed from a “desk recruiter” into a leader, mentor, and eventual exit-ready founder.
• The true value of coaching, what it takes to make a company attractive to buyers, and the hidden time it really takes to prepare for a sale.
• Why he joined forces with Rich Gibbins and Tristan Gardiner to reshape Impact Board into an elite peer-to-peer network for recruitment leaders.
• His biggest lessons on authentic leadership, avoiding burnout, and finding fulfilment in helping others grow.

Chris shares practical insights on valuation, leadership transitions, and why being brutally honest with yourself is the secret weapon for sustainable growth.

Who This Episode Is For:

• Recruitment founders thinking about starting, scaling, or selling their agency.
• Business owners feeling stuck between growth and burnout.
• Entrepreneurs who want to learn how to build a resilient, sale-ready business.
• Anyone interested in the real mental and emotional journey behind success stories — not just the highlight reel.

🔗 Connect with Chris Peace

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispeace1/

Check out the Impact Board:

https://www.impactboard.co.uk/

🔗 Connect with Nitin Sharma

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitin-rectools/

Discover recruitment tools and services at Rectools.io:

https://www.rectools.io/

Find out about the Recruitment Curry Club:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-recruitment-curry-club/

New episodes of RecTalk and Founder Diaries drop every Wednesday and Friday.

Listen on another platform: https://rectalk.co.uk/

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