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Supermarket Supported with 585 Temporary Workers to Meet Demand

Our client is based in the UK and is one of the largest and oldest supermarkets in the country. An award-winning grocery retailer with circa 50,000 employees, they operate from over 300 stores across the UK, including local convenience stores. They also offer an established home delivery service, with online ordering.

Committed to environmental sustainability, this retailer embraces the team approach, with an ‘all or nothing’ attitude to customer service.

 

Supermarket Supported with 585 Temporary Workers to Meet Demand

Client

UK Grocery Retailer

Contact

MSP Intermediary

Sector

Food Retail

Staffing Type

Replenishment Staff - shift workers
585
Temporary staff supplied
1614
Shifts supported
89%
Fulfilment by the end of the month

Recruitment Challenge

A long-term partner to this client, we’ve regularly provided contingent workforces to this supermarket chain, ensuring the smooth running of seasonal peak periods for years. So, when sales increased and customer demand rose, we were in place to assist the temporary staffing needs of our client. 

Within less than two weeks, temporary staffing demand rose from 10 workers to 585. In addition to store replenishers, night shift picking and packing staff were required to meet the significant increase in demand for home deliveries. The demand meant a need for instant recruitment, reducing the time to hire significantly. 

Recruitment Challenge

Recruitment Solution

Our key Account Manager worked with 56 Blue Arrow branch offices to meet the client’s demand. Implementing our Client Portal, we were able to provide real-time management information on open vacancies, shift fulfilment, and highlighting potential gaps in service delivery.

Accessible to the client online, our Client Portal allowed the client to place a request directly to our Blue Arrow team. On completion, hiring managers received live reporting in real-time on shift fulfilment. 

Recruitment Solution

Recruitment Journey

As a specialist recruitment supplier in retail, our Managed Service Provider (MSP) agreement meant a long-standing partnership with this client. To supply staff quickly, and reduce the time to hire, we utilised our community candidate pool of previous workers who had supplied contingent work to the retailer during the Christmas period. 

We also sourced candidates who had recently become redundant from other industries, such as hospitality, who had the right customer service skills. An online check-in for staff enabled timesheets to be processed easily using the system’s batch handling capabilities, assisting further with our recruitment and management efforts.

Recruitment Journey

The Results

Through our previous partnership with this client, as well as our exceptional industry understanding, we were able to fulfil roles within their tight demand schedule. 

This resulted in:

  • 585 temporary workers places into 1614 shifts
  • 89% fulfilment of MSP requirement by the end of the month
  • 100x increase in shifts

 

The Results
I was used to managing peak demands but doing so at such short notice was a new challenge. I’m so happy that the Blue Arrow infrastructure pulled together so well in a time of crisis in support of this exceptional retail brand.
Account Manager, Blue Arrow
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