Company Overview

Comserv do ‘the right work at the right time’ meaning that the tenant can choose when to have a trades person in their home, at a time convenient to them.  Comserv’s trades people are only given one job at a time and the timeframe and scale of each is decided according to their professional opinion upon arrival.

Comserv’s local, experienced and skilled team of over 150 Operatives are from all different trades, and their experienced Call Centre manages over 1,500 calls per day.

Recruitment Challenges

Comserv’s pioneering way of working with Portsmouth City Council leads to a unique set of recruitment challenges. Comserv HR Manager, Suzanne Mowatt explains:

‘We empower our labour operatives – they are responsible for fully assessing the job in front of them and making decisions about its scale. It’s essential they have that decision-making ability and good customer-facing skills, as well as the competent trade skills, whether its carpentry, glazing or plumbing etc. We are very customer-focused and it’s not like working on a new build site where the only communication is with a manager. Working for Comserv is not just about being able to undertake a repair, but also being able to assess and manage the work that it entails, and the customer’s expectations.’

Workshop Recruitment’s Solutions

Workshop Recruitment have been supplying high quality trades people to Comserv since 2006, building a close relationship centred around fully understanding the business, staff and recruitment requirements. Workshop Recruitment have spent time in the Comserv offices, sitting in the call centre to see the types of jobs, staff and conversations that take place to build that crucial understanding that leads to suitable candidates being put forward. Suzanne says:

‘Workshop is our main go-to agency and over the years we’ve found the personal relationship really pays off. The team at Workshop Recruitment have a really good understanding of the type of people we are looking for and only send CVs through that they know are going to be people we will want to interview. The market is tight at the moment, and we have quite a specific skill-set but our relationship means we can confidentially talk through different candidates’ strengths and weaknesses compared to the job role on offer, and any feedback will be taken on board in the search for the right candidate’.

An agency with a difference

As a local, independent agency, Workshop Recruitment has the advantage of being flexible in their approach, and respond quickly. In addition, they are dedicated to building long-term, meaningful relationships with clients.

‘We really enjoy working with Workshop because it isn’t a pushy, sales environment and is instead focused on filling each vacancy with a high calibre candidate.  Workshop Recruitment knows that when we need people, we will always approach them first.’