50 Years of Horner Recruitment: A Milestone Worth Marking

Celebrating 50 Years of “Connecting People, Shaping Futures”

2025 marks a huge milestone for Horner—our 50th anniversary in the recruitment, staffing and HR consulting industry!

Since opening its doors in 1975, our agency has helped thousands of businesses find the right talent and supported job seekers in finding meaningful employment across Australia.

What began as a small local office in Melbourne has grown into one of Australia’s most trusted, award-winning recruitment agencies — known for our personalised service, deep industry knowledge and unwavering commitment to people.

From Humble Beginnings to Industry Leadership

Founded in 1975, Horner Recruitment was among the early pioneers of professional recruitment in Melbourne. Their dedication laid the foundation for our long-standing success.

In 2005, Peter Langford and Maria Karpetis acquired the business, bringing with them a fresh vision and passion for growth. Under Peter’s leadership, Horner has transformed into a modern, full-service recruitment agency with expanded offerings to meet the needs of an evolving workforce.

Today, we continue to build lasting partnerships with clients, candidates and our industry partners.

“We’re incredibly proud to reach this 50-year milestone,” said Peter. “Our success has always been about people — the clients we support, the candidates we place, and our dedicated team, past and present. This anniversary is a celebration of all of them.”

Follow our journey – Keep an eye on social media and our blogs for more celebration highlights, flashbacks and memories.

A Trio of Anniversaries

Our 50th anniversary is not the only milestone this year!

Director Peter Langford celebrates 20 years at the helm steering the Horner ship and 40 years in the recruitment industry.  As a Life Member of the RCSA (Recruitment, Consulting & Staffing Association), where he served as Vice President and board member, Peter continues his contribution to the recruitment and staffing industry.

What’s the Secret to Longevity?

According to Peter, building a business that stands the test of time comes down to a few key principles:

• Invest in strong leadership
• Hire passionate, committed people
• Create the right culture and environment
• Demonstrate your purpose, vision and values in everyday activities
• Allow everyone to have a voice – from the newest employee to the longest standing
• Embrace change and innovation

“Our low staff turnover has been one of our biggest strengths,” Peter said. “We’ve focused on creating a workplace where people want to stay and grow. We have even had numerous employees leave and return to the Horner fold.”

Recent Industry Recognition

In recent years, Horner has been acknowledged as a standout agency, receiving multiple awards for excellence. In the last ten years we have won nine awards and been a finalist for eighteen awards.

Recent highlights include:

• Finalist – 2025 RCSA Industry Awards for Excellence in Candidate Care and Outstanding Medium Agency 
• Winner – 2024 RCSA Industry Awards for Excellence in Client Service
• Winner – 2024 APSCo Australia Awards for Best Workplace Culture and Client Service

Our CEO, Kylie Heffernan, shared, “These honours reflect our team’s dedication to excellence and innovation. We’ve embraced technology like AI screening tools while staying true to our commitment to personalised service.”

Looking to the Future

While we’re incredibly proud of our past and we’re just as excited about what lies ahead. Our purpose ‘Connecting people, Shaping futures’ combined with our vision and values (Respect, United, Trusted, Principled and Dynamic) continues to guide everything we do.

“This milestone is a great chance to thank our clients, candidates, industry partners and staff-past and present-for their support,” said Peter. “With their help, we’re looking forward to many more years and milestones to come.”