When the folks at Shopify suggested he expand his business into Ottawa, Toronto-based entrepreneur Danny Murrell listened.
Murrell is the CEO of Harrison Staffing, a business he began in 2018 to offer the services of bartenders, waitstaff, service coordinators, brand ambassadors as well as chefs and cooks on a temporary basis.
“A lot of our business is just (about) that temporary spot that needs to be filled. At this time of year, we have lots of private homes that need a bartender for Christmas parties,” he said.
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Harrison works at weddings, corporate events and with hotels. Some of the company’s most notable events from the past year were the Shopify Summit in Toronto and the Muskoka wedding of Edmonton Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid, Murrell said.
In addition to temporary work, Harrison provides in-house event staff for companies such as Shopify and KPMG.
“We supply them with in-house persons on a permanent basis,” Murrell said.
One day, Shopify’s Ottawa team reached out to Murrell to see if he was interested in expanding Harrison to the National Capital Region.
“They said, ‘There’s an opportunity here for you to expand and we would love it if you guys could come here first.’ My first thought was (that) we have to find people in that market, but it became quite easy once (we) took the first step,” he said, adding that he was able to connect with partners in Ottawa through a partnership with hospitality company The Compass Group.
Operating in Ottawa since September, Murrell said the partnership with Shopify was the catalyst his company needed to expand in the nation’s capital. Recently, KPMG also expressed interest in Harrison’s Ottawa team.
Murrell said he believes that Harrison is addressing a gap in Ottawa. “The culture of our company is so strong that when people see what we offer, the teamwork we have … we can bring that same energy over there (to Ottawa),” he said.
In fact, as he worked his way up from temporary waiter to CEO, Murrell has tried to make the hospitality industry more about its people. When he started working as a server in Toronto, he said he found the owners of the staffing agency he signed with were more focused on their bottom line. “There was a gap in terms of how they treated a person.”
Now, with the head office still in Toronto, Murrell said Harrison operates a “lean” team, checking in with Ottawa staff from the GTA.
“Our main office is here in Toronto, but we have the ability to move ourselves around as needed. I think, maybe in two years, if (Harrison’s Ottawa market) expands enough, we might see that need” of opening a headquarters in Ottawa, he said.
Out of a 400-person team, Harrison currently employs about 20 people in Ottawa, with the plan to double that number by spring 2026. “We have been told (that) restaurants and the Westin Hotel, those are places that we should really be talking to (and) could use our services.”
Ottawa’s post-secondary population provides a good source of future employees, Murrell said. “We know it’s a very university-centric city … A huge component of our workforce in Toronto are students and seeing them be able to get their studies done and pay their bills while surviving in Toronto is really heartwarming. (That’s) what we want to bring (to Ottawa),” he said.
As Harrison’s Ottawa expansion is “taking baby steps,” Murrell said he expects to have more of a boots-on-the-ground approach in the new year. “It’s quite a busy time of year in Toronto right now. We’ll have a little vacation (and) we want to really push the expand button (in Ottawa).”
Harrison will focus on services with its corporate partners, with the goal to expand its offerings in Ottawa by next summer.
“Our goal (is) to be able to staff the first wedding fully with Harrison by next summer in Ottawa. That’s going to require us to ramp up, hire people, train them and ensure their bar skills are up to date and create that team atmosphere. That takes time, but that’s what we see,” he said, adding that Harrison has started to expand in Montreal as well.
