LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15, 2018 — Inc. magazine today ranked GQR No. 1,127 on its 37th annual Inc. 5000 list, marking the third consecutive year that GQR appears on this list. The Inc. 5000 list represents the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. Of the 19 staffing and talent acquisition firms that consecutively made the list for the past three years, GQR ranks highest, due to a staggering 438% growth in revenue.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment and honor to be ranked on the Inc.5000 list for the third year and to be included amongst the most successful companies in America,” GQR co-founder and CEO Steve Talbot said. “When we started GQR, we saw an opportunity to add much more value to the human capital market while also having a lot more fun in the process of doing it. This achievement validates the hard work of our team and continues to give credit to the company’s strategy and its people for driving this unbelievable growth.”
Companies that made the list, on average have grown sixfold since 2014. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. GQR shares the spotlight with leading companies like Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow and many other well-known names that gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.
“The recognition of this award directly serves as a testament to our people, and their subject matter expertise,” GQR co-founder Hugo Sugden said. “Our people collaborate across teams, divisions, offices and the world to discover and deliver top talent to the most prestigious institutions. No matter how incredible we are as individuals, we operate that much better when we work together – we can never be as good as we are as a collective, and the recognition from Inc. further supports that mission.”
GQR first placed on the Inc. 5000 in 2016, with an impressive 906% three-year revenue growth. Overall, the business has realized a significant increase in revenue year-over-year which supported the development of 20 new specialist teams internationally as well as a 76% increase in headcount since 2017. This represents the ninth successive year GQR has been in hyper-growth mode.
Not only have the companies on the 2018 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but the list as a whole shows staggering growth compared with prior lists. The 2018 Inc. 5000 achieved an astounding three-year average growth of 538.2 percent, and a median rate of 171.8 percent. The Inc. 5000’s aggregate revenue was $206.1 billion in 2017, accounting for 664,095 jobs over the past three years.
“If your company is on the Inc. 5000, it’s unparalleled recognition of your years of hard work and sacrifice,” says Inc. editor in chief James Ledbetter. “The lines of business may come and go, or come and stay. What doesn’t change is the way entrepreneurs create and accelerate the forces that shape our lives.”
Additionally, GQR recently ranked #201 on Forbes’ 2018 list of America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms from 14,500 nominations and has since seen recognitions from LinkedIn, HFM Week, Best Global Talent Acquisition & Advisory Firm and CTA Intelligence for their contribution to the staffing and recruitment industry.
More about Inc. & the Inc. 5000
Methodology
The 2018 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2014 and 2018. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2014. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2017. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2014 is $100,000; the minimum for 2017 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.’s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.
