Success is no laughing matter for this recruitment company director

But mentioning any of the above leaves the co-director of First Recruitment in Bond Street, Brighton, wriggling in his seat with embarrassment.

It's not that he has any regrets, just that he's modest to a fault.

And so our conversation is punctuated with self-effacing deflections such as: "I don't want to blow my own trumpet" and "it was probably more to do with luck than skill".

Yet a quick glance at his CV, since he joined the recruitment industry in 1988, suggests skill and guile have played a bigger role than fortune.

Once a trainee manager with Marks and Spencer, Andrew left the family home in Hove in the mid-Eighties for the bright lights of London, where he fell into various sales jobs.

But his Eureka moment came in 1988 when he became a consultant for IT recruitment specialists Systems Support Southern, back on his home patch.

He found he had a knack for the job and realised he much preferred selling people than selling products, even though they were "more likely to let you down".

The company was sold six months later and Andrew was offered the chance to relocate to Wembley in London, but decided against the move.

"I had already lived in London and couldn't face going back," he says.

"I always say I went to London to find my fortune, didn't find it, and came back."

He discovered that finding another job threw up very few obstacles.

"I realised if you had just six months experience in recruitment, the world was your oyster. I sent off nine job applications and got nine interviews and seven offers."

He was snapped up by US recruitment giant Kelly Temporary Services - previously called Kelly Girls - as an account representative for Sussex.

Soon he was promoted to Brighton branch manager and presented with a plaque by Kelly chairman Terence Adderley for breaking an all-time sales record in 1990.

In 1992 he joined Office Angels when it was still a small company, as well as being the "trendiest and funkiest" recruitment agency to work for in Brighton.

He became the most successful branch manager in the company's history, was named Manager of the Year in 1994, and led a team which won more awards than any other.

His successes were more remarkable because they were achieved in a predominantly female industry.

"Being a guy in this line of work was, and still is, very rare, especially in a typical high street agency like ours.

"We employ about 50 people and I am one of three men.

"But you have to remember that when recruitment became the really big thing in the Eighties, 90 per cent of the jobs we were filling were for secretaries."

After ten years at Office Angels Andrew had risen through the ranks to Southern Operations Manager but expansion had changed the feel of the business.

Soon the original board members began to leave and Andrew realised it was time to jump ship himself.

"A lot of my peers started to go off and do their own thing and I remember thinking I was going to be the last person I knew in the office.

"So I resigned from Office Angels with a view to starting out on my own.

"I found an office and had some people in the industry who were willing to back me.

"But then I met up with former board members Simon Galvin and Tricia Morris again and they spoke to me about the small firm they were starting up and asked if I would like to join them.

"I agreed and it was like coming back home. What they were doing and the feel of the place was just like Office Angels was ten years earlier."

In the past six years First Recruitment has opened branches in Bromley, Caterham, Crawley, Dartford, Epsom, Haywards Heath, Horsham and London Bridge.

That brings the total, including Brighton, to nine.

Andrew sees room for another six branches before First Recruitment starts to lose some of its small charm. It becomes clear that Andrew is an advocate of the "small business" model.

"There are so many advantages to keeping small. I love the fact that at First Recruitment a consultant can walk into head office and say 'hello' to the directors.

"There is no real hierarchy, if anyone asks a question they can get an answer the same day. Also, without wanting to sound cheesy, it means you can care about your staff.

"If I have a consultant ringing me up, jumping up and down, saying they have won a major client it gives me great pleasure, not just because I own a sizeable chunk of the business.

"I am happy they are happy working for the company. That is very important when you are in a small business - as is employing people you like!"

So, does Andrew have any ambitions left in business. His answer fudges the question but is refreshingly opinionated nevertheless. It's as though I have hit a nerve.

"I like to go about my business quietly. There are a lot of people out there who run smaller businesses than ours who like to shout a lot louder than us.

"I am talking about the same people you see every month in Brighton and Hove Life at some party cozying up to a bunch of C-list celebrities. That's not my thing."

Later he reflects: "There are a lot of people in Brighton and Hove who will spend all their savings on a flash car so the city always has the appearance of being wealthier than it is."

This ability to speak off-the-cuff stood him in good stead when he had a slot on BBC Radio Solent as the Job Doctor, dispensing advice to job seekers over the airwaves.

And it must help when he does his stand-up routine. As soon as he has lets that one slip he is desperate to play it down.

"Oh no! I shouldn't have told you that. Really it's nothing. Just occasionally in hotels and at events.

"But, really, I won't be giving up the day job. Don't make anything of it."

This mixture of confidence and modesty is charming and I wonder how much of it has contributed to his success over the years. What has been his secret?

"There is no great secret to business.

"If you are passionate about what you do and you are better than the competition you will succeed.

"It's as simple as that."