About Abby Robbins | Founder of Yellow Bricks

About Us

I'm Abby Robbins, founder of Yellow Bricks

I’ve spent more than 20 years in UK recruitment. Long enough to know that the hire that hurts most is the senior one you got wrong. It costs quarters, not weeks. Sometimes it costs the team.

I founded Yellow Bricks in 2013 with a simple belief: good recruitment isn’t about filling vacancies. It’s about understanding what a business is trying to achieve, finding people who can genuinely move the needle, and choosing the right way to bring them in.

Today, Yellow Bricks does one thing: senior hires. Interim and fractional leaders when a seat can’t stay empty. Pilot to Perm™ when you want proof before you commit. Senior permanent when the evidence says stay.

My roots are in temporary and interim hiring, and it shapes how I work. I’ve seen what happens in the first ten weeks of a placement, not just in the interview. So I stay close: regular check-ins, honest conversations, and a bench of senior operators I know personally rather than a database of strangers.

Most of my work is with businesses going through growth, transformation or change, where the skills needed today may look very different in six or twelve months. That focus is why I completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, a programme for ambitious founders building and scaling their businesses.

I’m regularly asked to comment on hiring and the world of work, and have been featured on BBC Radio 4 and in The Telegraph, the i Paper, the Daily Mail and Woman magazine. I also speak at conferences, panels and roundtables, most recently at SCALE London‘s Next Level Leadership event.

When I’m not matching people to roles, I’m raising two children, taking long walks, organising small events or planning the next trip away. Usually with a margarita at the end of it.

The right answer isn’t always another permanent employee.

Email Abby

Hiring for what businesses will need next

Work is changing

The workplace has changed enormously during my career, but the pace of change we’re experiencing now feels different.

AI, automation and new ways of working are rapidly changing jobs and the skills businesses need from people. Sometimes the person an organisation will need in twelve months isn’t quite the person it thinks it needs today.

That’s why an important part of my work is looking beyond today’s vacancy.

I spend a great deal of time researching how work is changing, where technology is heading and what those changes mean for employers and the people they hire.

I’m particularly interested in the human capabilities that become more valuable as technology takes on more repeatable work: judgement, creativity, adaptability, resourcefulness, communication and the ability to solve problems when there isn’t an obvious answer.

That perspective shapes the conversations we have at Yellow Bricks.

We’re not simply asking:

“Who can do this job?”

We’re also asking:

“What is this job becoming, and what kind of person will continue to add value as it changes?”

Why I developed Pilot-to-Perm™

Reducing hiring risk

I developed Pilot-to-Perm™ at Yellow Bricks to give UK employers a structured way to trial someone in the role before deciding whether to hire them permanently.

After more than 20 years working in UK recruitment, I’ve learned that interviews can tell us a lot about someone, but they can’t fully show us how that person will perform once they’re actually doing the job.

I’ve seen excellent candidates overlooked because they weren’t the strongest interviewee. I’ve also seen people interview brilliantly only for their performance in the role to be very different.

Pilot-to-Perm™ is Yellow Bricks’ trial-before-permanent hiring approach, bridging the gap between temporary staffing and permanent recruitment.

The individual initially joins the client’s business as a temporary worker and is employed and paid through Yellow Bricks. They work in the real role, with the real team, giving the employer the opportunity to assess their performance before making a permanent hiring decision.

Employers can see how someone solves problems, responds when priorities change, communicates, works with colleagues and uses judgement. The individual can experience the role, manager and organisation too.

If there’s a strong mutual fit, the employer can then offer the individual permanent employment.

As jobs and skills evolve more quickly, I believe making hiring decisions based on real performance rather than interviews alone is becoming increasingly valuable.

Hiring someone isn’t the same as knowing how they’ll perform. Pilot-to-Perm™ gives UK employers and candidates the opportunity to find out before making a permanent commitment.

Let's Meet

Interim leaders when a seat can't stay empty

When a senior leader leaves, a deal lands or a transformation stalls, waiting six months for a permanent hire isn’t an option. That’s where interim comes in.

We place interim and fractional leaders, from Heads of and Directors through to board level, at £250–£1,250 a day. Every one is someone we know and have referenced. We employ them and pay them PAYE through our own payroll, so you’re IR35 compliant from day one.

Interim doesn’t mean second best. It means someone who has done this exact job, in this exact kind of mess, more than once. And if they turn out to be the answer for the long term, Pilot to Perm™ gives you a clear route to making it permanent.

Recent Articles

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How to Get More Value From Temporary Workers: The Insights Most Businesses Miss

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Hiring Strategy for Founders: How to Build a High-Performing Crew With Temporary, Fractional & Permanent Talent

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Developing A Post-Investment Hiring Strategy That Delivers Securing investment is one of the most exciting milestones in a founder’s journey. Whether it’s seed, Series A, or a later funding round, it signals that others believe in your vision and are backing you to grow. But with investment comes pressure. Investors expect progress, teams expect momentum, […]

September 17th • 2025

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AI-generated fake job applications

Tackling Fake Applications: Streamlining Your Recruitment Process for Genuine Candidates In today’s fast-paced hiring landscape, the rise of AI-generated fake job applications poses a significant hurdle for recruiters and hiring managers. These fraudulent submissions not only clutter your recruitment process but also drain valuable time and resources that could be directed toward finding genuine candidates. […]

June 16th • 2025