Office

Susan Barclay is the Finance Director of Office Holdings Limited, a retail business operating from over 80 Office stores and concessions throughout the UK and Ireland, with a thriving mail order and world-wide website business.

Susan has worked with Poolia for the last three years and during this time she has established strong recruitment partnerships with a number of the Poolia consultants within the Finance and Accounting division. Susan explains how the relationship has developed.

"In the first year I joined the company we had to recruit a number of temporary workers and I developed a relationship with Poolia where they knew that I could pick up the phone and rely on them to respond quickly and efficiently. I think it is a sign of how the relationships have developed that I have been happy to trust their judgment and book temporary workers from Poolia without needing to interview them first. Poolia's ability to screen and assess candidates on our behalf is excellent; they know that personality fit is just as important as technical ability and have found some great staff for us, demonstrating that they understand Office, our brand and our culture. This is very important to us as we want the candidates who work for us to be excited about our product."

Susan describes how Poolia's approach stands out from other recruiters she has worked with.

"I get a number of calls on a daily basis from recruitment consultants who want to do business with us and be associated with our brand. I like the fact that Poolia clearly value the relationships they have established with us and are happy to go the extra mile; nothing is too much trouble for them and their attentiveness really makes the service they offer stand out."

Although historically Poolia has tended to supply temporary finance staff to Office, they have recently successfully recruited a permanent Financial Controller for the company, a role which Susan wasn't having much luck recruiting through another competitor. Susan explains the situation.

"I was frustrated by the quality of candidates being presented to me for this position and because I have established a strong level of trust with Poolia I contacted them and asked for help. We were under particular pressure to find someone quite quickly and I was impressed again at the way Poolia managed the process and their understanding of the type of candidate we were looking for."

Susan sums up her thoughts about the key elements of the relationship which she values.

"I think it comes down to trust, speed of response and the calibre of candidates which Poolia have offered which make such a difference to me and which I appreciate."