My crazy first promotion. In London, 1983

I was 24

Permanent recruiter in London.

I held my own during my first year in the dog-eat-dog environment at Accountancy Personnel, but I wasn’t a superstar. I never topped the billing table, but I did deliver good results and felt relatively secure. That was, I did until a dry spell hit, and two quiet months had me on edge.

Our office at Great Castle Street, London, W1 was tiny. There were no meeting rooms, so when the need for a serious discussion arose, privacy was a challenge. The Director’s tactic was to walk around the block with whomever he wished to address. This particular morning, he entered our office and looked across at my manager. John was summoned for a walk around the block, and the cold hard fact is he never came back. He was fired on corner of Regent Street, outside the Wimpy Bar. I never saw him again.

The Director came back. “Savage… walk with me.” I knew it was over. John was gone, and Savage was going.

Instead, to my surprise, I was promoted. I was made manager outside Boots the Chemist on Great Portland Street, and returned to the office in my new role.

My salary was raised to the princely sum of £5,000 per year along with a massively complex commission matrix.

From ‘The Savage Truth’ Book. Order it now. Click here. Delivery World-wide in about 4 weeks

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