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Business Transformation for Co-op Food's Contingent Workforce

Co-op Food is the sixth largest retailer and the UK’s largest convenience store operator. They employ 70,000 people across more than 2,500 local, convenience, and medium-sized outlets. A socially conscious organisation, Co-op Food believes in working together to create a better society with the emphasis on community, health and wellbeing, and the environment. 

Business Transformation for Co-op Food's Contingent Workforce

Client

Co-Op Food

Contact

Operational Lead

Sector

Food Retail

Staffing Type

Retail Assistants
65
Stores supported
150
In-store assistants supplied
85%
Of London-area need supported in one week

Recruitment Challenge

A strategic national labour partner to Co-op Food since 2012, we were asked to support the company with a recruitment drive for frontline retail workers in over 60 of their London stores.

Due to external pressures and restrictions, our client needed immediate changes to its business operations and workforce schedule to ensure staff and customer safety. This came at a time when increased customer demand was putting strain on food retailers across the nation. Our client also needed support adjusting the available workforce and filling temporary gaps due to this increasing demand.

Recruitment Challenge

Recruitment Solution

Our rapid recruitment and induction of new staff was key to keeping stores open. By drawing upon our community candidate base and using a targeted strategy, including skill-matching techniques, we were quickly able to find workers with the right customer service skills. This included candidates from other industries which had been affected by recent redundancies. 

Our fast-track induction programme, designed to bring recruits up to the required competence levels quickly, enabled new starters to blend seamlessly with existing staff, ensuring the continuation of high-quality service.

 

Recruitment Solution

Recruitment Journey

A dedicated Blue Arrow specialist, with industry knowledge of retail and catering, managed our client’s needs with speed and efficiency. By identifying ‘hot spots’ we were able to offer the most value to our client, by focusing on locations with the highest need.  By the second day of this project, we had completed the initial scope of requirements for shelf stackers, agreed pay rates, uniform requirements, and induction process.

With the help of our talent and shift matching technology, we were able to match suitable candidates to assignments quickly, reducing the time to fill staffing gaps. In total, nine Blue Arrow branches across London were involved to fulfil weekly orders and meet our client’s customer demand.

 

Recruitment Journey

The Results

We were able to supply the right quality staff within a short timescale to sustain service continuity in-line with Co-op Food’s core values. 

We achieved:

  • 21 stores supported by day three
  • 636 shifts across 46 stores supported by the end of the first week, supplying 85% of demand in the London area
  • 150 in-store assistants across 65 London-based stores

We were proud to help our client’s operational team navigate these new ways of working and continue their high-quality service delivery. 

 

The Results
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