US expansion to see revenues at Mason Alexander hit €18m

Mason Alexander, a Dublin-based recruitment business, expects to grow its revenues to €18 million this year, up €4.5 million from 2022, as it expands its operations in the US.

The firm covers the technology and life sciences sectors, and hires people across a range of sectors, both permanently and on contract. Founded by Andrew Lynch in 2013, it has offices in Dublin, Cork, Lisbon, New York and San Francisco.

Lynch originally had no plans to go into the sector but the idea came to him when he was researching being a sports agent.

“I liked the idea of dealing with people, so instead of dealing with sportspeople, why not with bankers or software developers? I’ve developed a few companies before this. I set up a women’s fashion business, I sold ponchos, lots of weird and wonderful things,” Lynch told the Business Post.

“We’ve grown considerably over the ten years, with offices in Ireland, Portugal and the US. We deliver a great experience and have a purpose behind where we are going. We’ve got some good relationships.”

Lynch is originally from Straffan in Co Kildare and chose the name for the business entirely from thin air. “I completely made it up, I thought it sounded quirky,” he said. He credits his broad business background with giving him a fresh look on the sector when he set up the company a decade ago.

“When I started the goal was to make it more fun, engaging and authentic. That’s helped us develop a good brand. It’s a two-way thing, you’ve got to build relationships with companies and talent. Talent will only work with you if you find them good career moves.”

The US is a market where Lynch believes the business has significant potential. At present it is solely focused on the US for Enable, its spinout business that develops project management software.

“It’s outcome focused. We work with companies to design and build a roadmap of what they want and then deploy project management to lead it,” Lynch said.

Mason Alexander is supported by Enterprise Ireland, particularly with regard to market research.

“They’ve helped a lot on the ground in the US, giving us introductions to clients we have worked with. When we decided to go to the US we reached out to them and they got interested and have been helpful,” he said.

“What’s made this business last is that we got momentum early on, and it sounds clichéd but we work with great people and have great clients. We’ve grown our revenue every year. Early on it was small but it’s getting more sizeable now, as is the impact we’re having on people and companies. That’s really exciting and motivating for me.”

This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland.