DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY
Hi! My name is Irfan – I’m the Founder of BBEco (Black Book Ecosystem). I’ve spent the last decade building and scaling some of the largest freelance and permanent recruitment solutions across Europe.
In that time, I’ve gotten to know hundreds of clients and thousands of candidates around the world. I’ve seen first hand – the strengths and weaknesses traditional agencies and project platforms have to offer.
I created BBEco to offer an alternative to the outdated agency approach and the highly commoditised & cold ‘platform’ model.
We’ve combined the best of both worlds and live true to our core belief: to do things differently.
Our Story
nov 2011
The ‘Agency’ Years
Irfan joins well known strategy recruitment agency ‘The Barton Partnership’ – initially working on full-time permanent roles for the management consulting industry.
He then helps set-up and scale the freelance consulting practice – building a community of freelance consultants across Europe and educating the marketplace on the benefits of freelance consulting.
sep 2013
The ‘Executive Search’ Years
Disilusioned with the ‘agency approach’ Irfan joins well respected executive search firm ‘Holker Watkin’. Alongside helping to grow the HW Freelance Consulting practice – he works on a number of C-suite retained ‘searches’ for leading Private Equity, Corporate and Scale-up clients around the world.
He learns the power of adopting a relationship-driven approach and the benefits of utilizing an ‘executive search’ mindset over a ‘contingent’ agency approach.
JUNE 2015
The ‘Platform’ Years
Irfan is the 2nd hire into ‘Movemeon’ – a well known platform set-up by 2 ex-McKinsey Consultants. He is tasked with building out the Movemeon Freelance offering globally.
He stays with MMO during a period of exceptional growth and develops a deep understanding of the ‘platform’ model.
JULY 2018
BBEco Freelance Launches
Irfan sets up BBEco Freelance – a product focused on fixing the freelance consulting model. Taking all the ‘pain points’ he saw in the existing ‘agency’ & ‘platform’ models – BBEco created a more transparent and relationship driven freelance consulting platform.
- Simple flat fees: no more % of day rate (saving clients 66% on average vs. using agencies + platforms)
- A relationship-driven approach: developing deeper relationships with the freelance and client community.
- Human contact across every project: providing a ‘high touch’ model ensuring freelancers don’t feel forgotten through ‘automated’ responses.
Jan 2021
BBEco Freelance Growth
BBEco Freelance continues to grow – with it’s community of freelance consultants crossing the 2,000+ mark globally.
We successfully collaborate with clients across the U.K & Europe working on over 100+ project assignments – helping to save clients money & time.
Oct 2022
BBEco enters APAC & MENA
We bring the BBEco offering to APAC & MENA helping clients connect to our vetted network of freelance consultants across the two regions.