WE bring together two of the region's most successful female bosses to talk about global expansion, the credit crunch and being a working mum.

LISA HART started her career in market research working for blue chip brands after a maths and management science degree at Umist in Manchester.

After four years she moved on to work as head of business analysis for a large UK law firm. Three years later she returned to the North East to work for the Sage Group as a business analyst. In 2002 she launched Acritas, a professional services research agency in Newcastle. It works with 50 of the world’s largest law, accounting and property firms and has sales offices in London and New York. Hart, who has a three-year-old daughter, has just started a second consumer research firm.

Lorna Moran is a founding member of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, and CEO of Northern Recruitment Group, which has six British offices.

The firm, now being delisted from the stock market after floating in 1997, has been established 32 years and employs 140 staff. Last year it had a turnover of £22m. Lorna was the first and so far only woman to win the North East Businessman of the Year title in 1997 and was made MBE in 2001. She is married with five children.

Lisa asks Lorna

Lisa: “Recruitment is highly competitive and arguably a predominantly commodity-based service. What have you done differently to your peer group to achieve such a high growth?

Lorna: “Firstly, you can’t commoditise people as they have opinions, values and choice. Helping them make the right career choices has been just as important to our growth as filling vacancies for customers.

“Our business covers a broad range of sectors and salary bands, from our executive search and selection practice placing executive and non-executive talent to our volume contract centre and administration work and most things in between. Our volume markets are split 50:50 public-private sector, much of it delivered through our recruitment process outsourcing business. The longest contract we have delivered to date was 10,000 people for HMRC.”

Lisa: “What do you believe are the core leadership skills you and your management team have to drive such a successful enterprise and how do you keep everyone motivated?

Lorna: “You can only keep most people motivated most of the time. Do that and you’ll be doing a good job as a leader. I have a good executive and management board that gives our business leadership. We are brave and ballsy and nimble enough to be spontaneous.

“You must know when to empower someone and when to direct. You can only do that by understanding what makes them tick. In this constantly changing environment performance management is key at the moment.

“Leadership in these times is about looking at who is delivering in your business. Everyone needs to get hungry as competition is fierce and good leaders need to instil that.”

Lisa: “Why did you choose to float rather than sell or remain private?”

Lorna: At the time, our turnover was around £10m with a healthy profit and the business was successful, but I had always been my own boss and no one had ever stretched me.

“Floating was not about an early payday (though that was nice) but my main driver was to have other masters – to have to perform for others and see them challenge me. Was this a good move? Yes and no. It was a big buzz to take it to the City, and we took turnover to £35m.

“But we also acquired another business, which was a disaster because you can’t buy people, and we should have grown organically. I would never regret it, as our business is more than double the size it was. But we are delisting and going private because I feel being on the stock market at the moment is counter productive for NRG.

Lisa: “In the current economic climate, how do you make a tightly run ship even tighter?”

Lorna: “Good performance management allows tighter control. We look at everyone’s performance weekly and monthly and address things early. Everyone should know their overhead costs and targets, and know what it means if they don’t perform. Everyone should be out there shaking the can in a recession.

“Sales are everyone’s responsibility, including mine. Also you must adjust your business direction where the money is, and at the moment that is oil, gas, defence, utilities.

“Following the trend allows you to get on the right side of the curve. You must be good at cash management and not just looking at the turnover. Everyone should be squeezing the pips, cutting back where they can but not compromising on training and marketing.

Lisa: “As a mother I find it very hard to balance my work-life balance without letting down either family or work on a weekly basis. You have achieved so much whilst bringing up a family. How have you done this?”

Lorna: “I doubt if any mother feels that they do. Women are programmed to be the primary carer and will always feel guilty if they put work first. When I first started the business I put my daughter into nursery, which was hard. With my youngest I hired a nanny, which was easier to manage.

“Every woman just has to work out what their own priorities are. As long as your children are loved and looked after, they will be happy. Mine always liked coming into the office. You are important there – they like that!

Lorna asks Lisa

Lorna: “Why did you decide to take your business offering to America at a relatively early stage and how does this affect your focus?”

Lisa: “Acritas is acting for big professional services firms, many of whom are international with HQs in London and New York. We are so focused on the legal industry especially, we have to be active in the US to capture the market share we want.”

Lorna: “With so many clients in professional and financial services, how in these extraordinary times will you look for growth?

Lisa: “There is plenty of work still to be gained on the legal side as they are busy supporting companies who are restructuring, in insolvency or litigation. We have turned around our sales message based on the fear factor in today’s environment. These firms need intelligence, they need to protect, know where to be active and in what sectors to survive.”

Lorna: “I admire your bravery in tackling blue chip international clients both sides of the pond with success. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the business in ‘family’ life?

Lisa: “Yes! But the great thing about kids is they bring you home to what is important. You are forced to have that balance. Faced with a demand to stay away from home one more night, you are forced to keep some sense of balance – you know you can’t always do it all. “

Lorna: “What is your dream? The pinnacle of your ambition? Do you know yet, is there a plan?”

Lisa: “We would like to get 80% of top 100 worldwide law firms buying our data and see it become engraved in their day to day management processes. We’ve got 30% market share now and want the majority of the key players in the US next. But I know I might have to join up with a larger firm or be bought up by someone with those sales channels to really corner the market Stateside. I know I may need to sell to grow.”

Head to Head is run with the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, a membership group bringing together business owners to share experience. It runs events and mentoring. See www.entrepreneursforum.net

As long as children are loved, they are happy. Mine always liked coming into the office. You are important there – they like that!