Former Hays Construction & Property managing director Robert Smith has returned to the construction sector with newly launched executive search firm The Management Recruitment Group (MRG).

Smith, who was with Hays for 27 years before leaving after an internal restructuring, took up the position of chairman with MRG three weeks ago. Since his departure from Hays, Smith has been on gardening leave, which consisted of a computer course, tennis and other long put off leisure pursuits.

MRG launched six months ago, set up by two other former Hays Construction & Property employees, managing director Simon Cheshire and finance director Howard Bridgwater.

Smith insists that MRG will not be competing directly with his former employer. "We saw a gap between the contingency recruiters and high-end executive search companies." He says MRG will focus on senior to middle-management positions commanding the £50-100,000 salary range.

Smith says the Twickenham-based firm plans to grow in the UK through regional offices. "We want to grow the business, but not to the size of Hays. We want to have critical mass in the market but I still want to know the people working for me. I want to keep it personal internally and externally — I want to know the clients and candidates."

Smith says he wants to create a very different working environment to the one that existed at Hays. "We want to create a more grown up and flexible working environment — we're not going to hit people over the head with KPIs [key performance indicators]; we want people who can get on with it and don't need people standing over them."

Smith adds that the company will focus on long-term relationship with clients, which he believes is only possible in a smaller company.