2008

• the very first thing paul marsden and adrian kinnersley decided on were the values of the business. they wanted "life's short" "crystal clear" and "be eclectic" to be at the heart of the business from the very beginning

• in september, the same month that lehman brothers collapses, paul and adrian register twenty as a business

• paul and adrian finalise their goal to build an innovative global brand where every employee can become a share option holder

• in october 2008, paul and adrian begin searching for ‘rainmaker’ recruiters with an advert in the iconic sunday times

• after massive stock market losses, the world plunges into global financial turmoil

• as the year progresses, the global economy continues to shrink which results in a dramatic loss of jobs across the world

• barack obama wins this historic US election by becoming the first african american to have been elected as president

2009

• during march and april, we launch our energy technology and financial services brands in the UK

• we conclude the first year of trading with a c. £1m turnover 

• throughout the year, we have to move offices three times due to the rapid growth of the business

• in january, barack obama takes office as the 44th president of the united states 

• after the financial turmoil throughout 2008, the global recession continues into 2009

• as a backlash to the global recession, there are large scale anti-capitalism protests outside the G20 summit

• in december, bernard madoff, founder of the wall street firm bernard madoff investment admits that the wealth management arm of his business was an elaborate ponzi scheme

2010

• as a consequence of continued growth, we move into an office on lothbury behind the bank of england 

• nick careless joins twenty, bringing his vast international recruitment experience, to set up our financial services brand in new york

• after another fantastic year, we finish 2010 in excess of £3.5m turnover and with over £100k profit

• the UK elects their first coalition government since 1940, as david cameron and nick clegg become prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively 

• an icelandic volcano eruption causes the largest disruption to air traffic since the second world war and leads to the closure of most of europe’s airspace for 6 days 

2011

• after the rapid success and growth of the UK office, we build and move into our new london hq

• after an initial year establishing the new york office, we officially launch twenty in new york

• the london business school approach twenty and request to create a case study on twenty’s innovative management style

• after another fantastic year, we win the “start-ups” award for best service business in the UK 

• we finish the year with a turn over in excess of £7m and 30 recruiters working in the business. we manage to achieve such rapid growth whilst still being profitable and sustainable business 

• in april, prince william and kate middleton are married in front of the world’s cameras. the day is declared a public holiday in the UK with over 100 million people tuning in to watch the ceremony around the world

• the co-founder, former chief executive and visionary behind the US technology giant apple, steve jobs, dies in october

• after years of political and economic upheaval across the globe, there are a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across the middle east and become known as the arab spring

2012

• after the success of twenty financial services in new york, we launch our digital brand stateside

• the personalised twenty pool table arrives in the london hq

• our success is marked as we appear in the recruiter hot 100 – a list that ranks the recruitment companies that have the greatest profit per employee

• adrian is named a “young gun” by the start-up awards, which is a national celebration of young entrepreneurs in the UK

• we end the year with a £9m turnover and 750% growth in our profit

• london is at the centre of the sporting world as it plays host to the 2012 olympics and paralympic games

• gangnam style, the k-pop single by psy, takes over the world reaching number one in over thirty countries and is hailed as a “force for world peace” by UN secretary-general ban ki-moon

• after four years as president of the united states of america, barack obama is re-elected as president for a second term 

2013

• after another record-breaking year in 2012, our top performers across the business enjoyed a ski trip in chamonix

• to make room for our growing team, we move into larger new york office with amazing views of manhattan

• the team in the new york complete tough mudder for charity 

• prince george, the first child of william and kate, is born in july making him third in line for the british throne

• airbnb and uber start to change the face of the sharing economy across the globe 

• edward snowden, a former employee of the CIA and the american government, leaks national secrets about USA surveillance programmes and then flees to russia to seek political asylum 

2014

• 2014 starts with a bang with a record breaking month and quarter 

• all of the staff at twenty celebrate their success, with go-karting in london and ten-pin bowling in new york

• records continue to be broken, as in 2014, we achieve the best ever turnover, fee income and profit to date for twenty

• the ice bucket challenge goes viral around the world raising over 100 million pounds and awareness for ALS/motor neurone disease 

• one world trade center re-opens thirteen years after the twin towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack

• continuing with the theme of uncertainty in the world, gwyneth paltrow and chris martin consciously uncoupled after their ten year marriage 

2015

• twenty sustains record-breaking figures as turnover exceeds £13m and profits are just shy of £1m for the year

• with the next stage of growth in headcount underway, there is a rapid increase in numbers in both our london and new york offices

• james warren joins as european managing director, bringing with him extensive experience in recruitment to support the organic and rapid development of the brands across the european markets

• following the success of our digital brand in new york, we launch digital in the UK 

• after our ambitious targets are exceeded, we take the whole company to spain for a long weekend

• england is under the sporting spotlight once again, hosting the rugby world cup

• a landmark ruling by the supreme court leads to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in every state in america

• cuba and the united states re-establish full diplomatic relations after 54 years of hostility

2016

• after a fantastic year of growth in 2015, our top performers in the company enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to miami

• we had our first cohort of managers promoted that had come through our consultant academy

• we have another record breaking year, with record turnover, NFI and profit numbers

• 41 years after joining, the UK makes a historic decision, after a public referendum, to exit the european union

• after the resignation of david cameron, theresa may is elected as the prime minister of the united kingdom after a leadership election that lasted just over two weeks

• team USA and team GB come first and second in the rio 2016 olympics medal table

• in one of the biggest political surprises of the past century, donald trump is elected the 45th president of the united states

2017

• we just keep growing. we took on our largest ever graduate intakes in london and new york

• our top performers from london and new york hit the slopes in chamonix, france to celebrate their success in 2016