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About Us

Life At Aardvark Swift

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Far From Average...

When you work with us, you’ll soon realise that we’re not your average recruitment company. Our passion for the job shines through in everything we do.

We excel at putting great candidates together with studios that fit their skills and career aspirations. We’ve been doing it for over 30 years, developing a huge network of industry contacts along the way, and evolving alongside the studios and brands we work with.

We believe this experience, combined with our forward-thinking and proactive approach, makes us the best in the business.

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Our Culture

Recruitment as an industry can be a tough, sales-driven, environment (and not always a very welcoming one). We want everyone to feel comfortable at Aardvark Swift, so we break out of the traditional mould wherever possible.

There’s no corporate office atmosphere with isolated cubicles here. We occupy a bright and open space with room to breathe. You can set up your own desk however you like, and wear whatever you’re comfortable in. 

We’re proud of our open and relaxed culture, and we always do our best to support and nurture our team. Whether through training, mentoring, team activities or just being there for each other. We genuinely believe that Aardvark Swift is a great place to work for great people.​

Check out our Instagram

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Our Core Values

  • Grafter

    “Hard workers who give everything their best shot.”

    The business has been built on the back of graft and dedication, with the work put in building a firm foundation for future success.

  • Deliver

    “Be accountable, take ownership and have the discipline to produce results.”

    We succeed when the team is prepared to rise to the challenge and consistently deliver results, providing a platform for continued growth.

  • Resourceful

    “Adaptable, not fazed by challenges, find solutions.”

    To prevail we’ve adapted our methods, services, and approaches to recruitment, evolving to overcome commercial challenges.

  • Teamcentric

    “Positive team players who are excited about how they can influence the team and business.”

    The team is strongest when we’re positive and help others as well as ourselves to succeed; when the team prospers the business prospers.

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Our Mission

The Aardvark Swift story begins in 1989 when the specialist recruitment agency began servicing what are now the founding companies of the UK games development industry, working closely with studios like Gremlin Graphics, Codemasters, and DMA Design.

As the UK games industry grew so has Aardvark Swift.

Over the years we’ve adapted our working practices and evolved alongside the industry we serve, creating a solid base from which we can continue to thrive in the future.

We took the opportunity during the “lockdown Summer of 2020” to plan the future of the business and decide what type of company we wanted to create for ourselves and for our people, this is The Aardvark Swift Mission.​

We've implemented a number of changes to the business, how we operate, and how we reward our team.

These include;

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​Career Pathways

We’ve created career development pathways for our team to go on their own Aardvark Journey.

​Flexible Benefits

We've introduced flexible benefits allowing the team to choose the benefits that matter the most to them.

​Working Smarter

We’ve invested in cutting-edge data analytics and recruitment software to ensure we can keep on providing a great service.

Be Well @ Work

We are proud to be awarded the Be Well @ Work Award.

The Be Well @ Work initiative is a workplace health award scheme, run by various councils in South Yorkshire, and provides a framework for businesses to work towards when building good practices in workplace health and wellbeing.

More information can be found here.

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Perks & Benefits Include...

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Extra Holiday Days
Westfield Health Cover
Medical Insurance

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Life Insurance
Wellbeing Services
Learning Days
​Gym Membership
​Personal Development
Travel Vouchers

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Join an Award-Winning Team

​TIGA
​MCV Develop
​Pocket Gamer
​2015 - 2017 | 2019 | 2021
​2004 | 2017 | 2022
​2020

Do we sound like your kind of place? Interested in becoming part of the team?


Check out our open vacancies​

  • Birth of Aardvark Swift
  • UK Wide Expansion
  • Games Publishing Desk Established
  • Management Buyout
  • Expansion Into Europe
  • Expansion Into North Amercia
  • Graduate Recruitment Service Launched
  • Grads in Games Founded
  • Senior Management Team Formed
  • Game Dev Heroes Founded
  • Aardvark Swift Mission Launched
  • 1989

    Birth of Aardvark Swift

    Aardvark Swift was created to serve the founding companies of the UK games development industry, working closely with studios like Gremlin Graphics, Codemasters, and DMA Design.

  • 1993

    UK Wide Expansion

    As the UK games industry flourished we expanded our range of operations from the North and Midlands to the whole of the UK.

  • 2000

    Games Publishing Desk Established

    The turn of the millennium saw us extend our capabilities further by creating a specialist desk to work with games publishers on non development roles. The establishment of the publishing desk also saw the arrival of Ian Goodall, future MD.

  • 2005

    Management Buyout

    Future MD Ian Goodall led a management buyout to bring in a new investment and growth. The young team of Directors ran their own recruitment desks while developing new trainee team members. Hard work and dedication established a firm foundation for the business in the years ahead.

  • 2006

    Expansion Into Europe

    As the games industry continued to grow so did Aardvark Swift. 2006 saw us expand our horizon from being a primarily UK focused business to include the rest of Europe, establishing relationships with games studios and publishers throughout the continent.

  • 2008

    Expansion Into North Amercia

    In 2008 we began to work with studios and developers in North America, expanding the territories we operated in, providing clients with more hiring options and individual game devs with a wider choice of potential employers.

  • 2009

    Graduate Recruitment Service Launched

    2009 saw us establish a Graduate team working on graduate and junior games industry roles and helping games grads with CV and portfolio advice. Over the years this team would see their work evolve, supporting games students before graduation with workshops on portfolio building and CV advice.

  • 2014

    Grads in Games Founded

    We're passionate about ensuring the games industry has a healthy pipeline of talented grads. This led to the foundation of Grads in Games; improving links between the games industry and education, providing more opportunities for games students to develop and present their skills to the industry.

  • 2017

    Senior Management Team Formed

    Forming a Senior Management Team allowed us to operate on a more strategic level and provided a framework for regular planning and review of operational activity in line with business goals. Since it's inception we've reacted better to changes in the industry and enjoyed year on year growth.

  • 2018

    Game Dev Heroes Founded

    As a founding partner of Game Dev Heroes, we look forward to annually celebrating the achievements of individuals throughout the industry. Recognising the contributions of the industry's unsung heroes, from brilliant dev's and resourceful support staff, to inspiring management and positive role models.

  • 2020

    Aardvark Swift Mission Launched

    We took the opportunity during the 2020 summer lockdown to plan the future of the business, deciding what type of company we wanted to create for our team. This become known as The Aardvark Swift Mission, we've made big changes and we're working to a rolling three year plan to ensure we keep evolving.

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