Alliance & Leicester Case Study

'all in a day's work' 

 

There's nothing I love more than a challenge - recruiting a Bank Manager in Shetland is one of the most unusual I've ever been asked to solve!

Gary Moore, Area Business Manager at Alliance & Leicester said "finding the perfect candidate for any position can often prove challenging, particularly in my most remote store.

I contacted Mike at Career Prospects to offer him a 'unique opportunity' which he didn't face everyday and probably won't face ever again, feeling confident he would solve my problem".

Mike said "it was clear to me this needed a specialist approach with a lot of careful research, some ingenious networking and a healthy dose of expert headhunting. After about a month, I was delighted to deliver a quality candidate, who ticked all the right boxes and now manages Alliance & Leicester's Shetland store".

 

Talbots Solicitors - Case Study

 

Talbots has been dispensing legal advice since 1828 and has a well deserved reputation for blending traditional values and personal care with the most up to date advice and representation. They now provide a range of services on Accidents & Disputes, Commercial Property, Company & Commercial, Criminal Defence, Matrimonial and Child Care, Residential Property and finally Wills & Inheritance.

Martyn Morgan, Senior Partner at Talbots, explains "Our aim has been to develop a dedicated team to advise and support local businesses. Whist we have an established reputation for excellent service to both private clients and businesses alike, I believe we are now offering a unique service, aimed specifically at owner/managed businesses and individual entrepreneurs."

Newest recruits to work with Martyn and the Talbots team are David Burford who was appointed its Human Resources Manager in May followed by Gareth Price who agreed to join as the company’s Employment Law Partner in August.

Previously HR Manager at Moseley & District Churches Housing Association David has enjoyed a career at a number of leading organisations across the region including Motorola, United Fleet Distribution and the PDSA. His brief at Talbots - to influence all aspects of the HR agenda, what could be simpler!

Meanwhile his fellow ‘newby’ joins from Langley Wellington Solicitors in Gloucester. Gareth joins as Partner with responsibility for leading Talbots Employment Law offering.

And in a bizarre twist tomdunn’s recruiting consultant, Stuart Thomas shares a unique link with both David and Gareth, neither of whom he had met or known previously.

"David first saw the light of day at Neath General Hospital, my home town, but his grandparents were born and bred in Britton Ferry, three miles from Aberavon where David grew up” said Stuart. “He then moved up the valley to Bryn, which as they say locally, is ‘three coal tips away from Caerau’ – where my own father was born!”

And the weirdness doesn’t stop there!

“Whilst interviewing Gareth some months later, he said that he too was from a small Welsh village no one had heard of - Briton Ferry”.

“I told him I know Briton Ferry quite well as my father taught in a school there for many years” said Stuart. “When I told Gareth his name, his jaw dropped as he had been in his class – my dad taught him and was friends with Gareth’s father!”

The six degrees of separation rule proven!

With its new Welsh recruits Martyn Morgan is hoping Talbots enjoy another Red Dragon success. “Stuart took a number of us to Cardiff to watch the Six Nations decider between Wales and France last season” said Martyn. “A great day out but I wasn’t expecting to have to be reminded of it at work every day!”

So the next time you've got a 'unique opportunity, think of Career Prospects... we love a challenge!

 

Ormiston Education - Case Study

Ormiston Education is a recent new client and Kevin Edwards tells clearlyput how Sales Elite, a division of Career Prospects, rose to the challenge of this particular recruitment challenge.

Let's start at the end! The successful outcome to this particular story saw Ormiston Education appoint it's new Marketing manager, Kris Griffin.

"Our requirement was very clear and Sales Elite did exactly what we wanted. By quickly understanding the mix of experience we desired and the ability to identify a strong short-list of education based Marketers, we were able to appoint an exceptional candidate in Kris" commented Joyce Hodgetts, Director at Ormiston Education.

Kris' most recent position was Development Director at Wolverhampton Grammar School prior to which he was Marketing Director for a Private Military Company based in Hereford.

Kevin Edwards, Senior Partner, Sales Elite division of Career Prospects said, "we consistently source the calibre of individual needed in very short (agreed) timescales and working in close collaboration with Ormiston was key to understanding the brief".

The experience was positive for Kris too! "Being recruited by Sales Elite from an environment where I had enjoyed many successes and was very comfortable, into a more progressive challenging role was certainly a major decision for me. However the synergy between Career Prospects and their client was perfect, I felt enthused, excited and challenged at every step of the process. Now I have started my new role it is everything I expected and more, it's revitalised my personal and professional development".

The positive energy doesn't end there, Joyce said of Kris' appointment, "This is a very exciting appointment for Ormiston Education and we expect to go from strength to strength with one of the brightest marketing professionals in the UK working for us".

Based on St Paul's Square in Birmingham, Ormiston Education is a new kind of educational organisation. They invest and support the dynamic to create successful schools, learners and communities. The Trust is non-profit making, reinvesting surplus income and other identified funding sources back into the Education.

 

Client Case Study - Norwich Union

FS specialist sister company, tomdunn, were delighted to win a competitive tender to recruit a HR Managing Consultant for Insurance giant, Norwich Union.

Asked to compete against a number of well-known competitors, tomdunn were successful because of their ethical environmental credentials. Taking tomdunn's advice the role was successfully completed as an Advertised Assignment.

The role attracted over 70 applications and was completed from start to finish in just six weeks, including a break for Christmas! Norwich Union is an Aviva company, the world's fifth-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK. It is one of the leading providers of life and pension products in Europe and has substantial businesses elsewhere around the world. Its main activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance.

It has premium income and investment sales of £36 billion and £332 billion of assets under management. Aviva has 58,000 employees serving 35 million customers.

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