Steven Rawlingson, SKI
When Steven Rawlingson founded Samuel Knight International (SKI) at the age of 30, he had a clear vision to provide specialist recruitment services and project manpower solutions to the global energy and rail sectors. Named after his grandfather, SKI began with a small, close-knit team in Newcastle and ambitious goals.
The journey was swift and eventful. By year two, the business had achieved £2m in revenues, but the third year brought exponential growth, revenues surged 400% to £10m. While exciting, this rapid expansion revealed serious challenges. Back-office support functions were struggling, cashflow was tight and Steven feared SKI might become a “could-have-been special” business.
Recognising the need for guidance, he tapped into his network of mentors and brought in CFO Carl Moffett to strengthen the finance function and build a five-year business model. Alongside this, he joined the Entrepreneurs’ Forum Scale-up Leaders’ Academy (SULA) as part of its second cohort.
“SULA allowed me to reassess and learn how to keep the four key plates of my business – people, strategy, execution and cash – spinning in the right way,” Steven recalls. “Every day I was practising what I was learning on the course. They really changed my mindset and helped me get the business back in line. I learned to think like a CEO. I can’t tell you what it did for me.”
The lessons from SULA were transformative. Steven learned the importance of stepping back to work on the business rather than being stuck working in it. With renewed clarity and strategic focus, SKI secured investment from Gresham House in 2019 to fund the next stage of growth. The funds were used to expand the Newcastle headquarters, develop the finance team, and build a US presence with offices in Chicago and Boston, with plans for California on the horizon.
Today, SKI has grown into a thriving enterprise with a client roster that reads like a who’s who of global engineering expertise – GE, Siemens, Alstom, ABB, Subsea7, and more. The company has scaled from an intimate team of four to a robust, multi-location operation, firmly on track to achieve its ambitious five-year plan of £100m turnover.
Steven emphasises that sustainable growth relies not just on expansion but on building the right foundations. Alongside his personal mentors, SKI has a chairman with deep experience of scaling staffing businesses, a ten-strong finance department, and a developing talent acquisition team focused on identifying the right people for the company’s future.
For Steven, the experience of SULA is one he continues to share with others. “The Academy couldn’t have come at a better time. It taught me to think like a CEO, gave me practical tools to balance all aspects of the business, and reshaped how I approach growth and leadership,” he says.
From Newcastle to the US, SKI’s story illustrates the challenges and rewards of scaling a specialist recruitment firm internationally – and the pivotal role that structured support, mentoring, and peer learning can play in making that growth sustainable.
The Scale-up Leaders’ Academy equips ambitious North East entrepreneurs with the tools, peer support and leadership confidence to grow with purpose.
If you’re ready to take your next step and scale sustainably, join the next cohort of the Scale-up Leaders’ Academy and apply online today.
