RECRUITMENT
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : CHRIS BOOTH
TRUSTED RECIPE
Partnership – SK Foods HR director Julie Knight with Imperial Recruitment Group director Jason D ’ Silva .
SK Foods dishes out praise for its recruitment partner
When it comes to recruiting staff , SK Foods has used the same trusted recipe for over 15 years .
In 2008 , the Teesside-based snack and party food manufacturer first teamed up with Imperial Recruitment Group – and they ’ ve worked closely together ever since .
SK was considering using an external recruitment agency for its long-term and short-term staffing requirements and , following the talks between Imperial Recruitment Group and manufacturing manager Tony Harvey – who is now SK ’ s manufacturing director – Imperial was appointed .
According to SK Foods HR director Julie Knight , both firms continue to reap the benefits of the resulting business partnership .
She told Tees Business : “ Historically we did all our recruitment internally , which caused some issues , so we invited a few agencies in through a tender process .
“ Tony was impressed with Imperial ’ s unique partnership approach , so they were selected . Imperial started off providing a small number of temporary workers . But things went so well , we haven ’ t had to use another recruitment partner since .
“ They ’ re an integral part of our business because they know us so well . They listen , they read between the lines – they just ‘ get ’ us .
“ It ’ s a partnership based on trust and mutual respect and , over the years , some real friendships have grown too .”
As SK grew , so did its staffing demands . In 2008 , they used around 20 temps per week . Now , we are averaging
around 300 temps per week , working across SK ’ s manufacturing sites at South Bank and Middlesbrough ’ s Riverside Industrial Park .
Around 875 people are currently on the full-time SK payroll , 40 per cent of whom were recruited through Imperial , and for the 300 weekly temps supplied , all have the chance of a permanent position with SK in coming through the Imperial process .
Imperial Recruitment Group director Jason D ’ Silva said the bonds with SK are stronger than ever .
He said : “ I hope SK think of us as an extension of their business .
“ SK is a business with a real community ‘ feel ’ to it . With its heart and soul in South Bank and the Riverside , it ’ s a local people ’ s business .
“ The food manufacturing sector is fast-paced and dynamic and SK are structured in a way that will offer longterm careers to individuals looking to progress in the FMCG industry , which is currently one of the UKs fastest growing sectors .”
Wonderful and loyal – SK , has an average retention rate of 9.8 years and 30 staff who have worked there more than 25 years .
Julie said : “ A lot of it ’ s down to the calibre of people we recruit , and Imperial plays a big part in that .
“ I get several calls a week from
Production – SK Foods has manufacturing sites at South Bank and Middlesbrough ’ s Riverside Industrial Park . new agencies saying they can do this or that for us . But when I say we ’ ve worked with Imperial for 15 years , they say , ‘ OK , fair enough ’. If it ’ s not broken , why would I try and fix it ? Genuinely , it ’ s been a lot of hard work – blood , sweat , tears … and onion bhajis ! But like any relationship we stick together , we pull together and get results in the end .”
Julie and Jason agree the strength of the firms ’ relationship was exemplified during Covid .
Jason said : “ It was a very difficult time to recruit . However , we made a commitment to SK that we wouldn ’ t take on new clients during this period . This allowed us to focus on supporting SK through a critical point of their evolution and the pandemic .”
Julie added : “ It was nice for us to know we were in it together . We rocked up every day , we rolled our sleeves up and worked extremely hard – and we got that in return from Imperial . Ours isn ’ t just a customer-supplier relationship , it ’ s a genuine partnership and long may it continue .”
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