A brand-new adventure but a warehouse full of unknowns

Paul Leach, Operations Director at Middleby Outdoor, is a seasoned pro at opening warehouses. Creating and managing projects is what he does.

When Paul opened the warehouse for Middleby Outdoor, he knew he needed top-class workers that he could count on.

As this warehouse project was entirely new and he hadn’t got the keys to the warehouse yet, Paul knew he couldn’t commit to hiring immediately.

“My original plan was to have an open day with recruitment agencies” Paul recalls.

“Until I got the keys, I didn’t really want to engage too far with any of the companies, but I did actually speak to Workshop before we got the keys,”

It was important to Paul to hire his staff with a local company. One with a great reputation and one that came highly recommended.

A local focus and a passion for BBQs

After meeting Workshop Recruitment’s Director, Daimion Eastley and brainstorming ideas for what he needed, Paul knew Workshop was the recruitment company for him.

“I gelled quickly with Daimion, based on his interest in our products. So that was a big plus.”

Daimion and his colleague Clare Sayers understood the exact requirements for Paul’s vision and immediately put forward a top-class candidate, as a right-hand man to Paul.

“Daimion proved to me that actually it was the right thing to do, to take Lewis on straight away, rather than on a temporary basis” Paul says.

“Generally, I like to keep everything under my control, if I can. Did I really want to take somebody on and just let them get on with things? That’s really out of my comfort zone.”

“But Lewis has just been superb, and that’s set the scene for the relationship with Workshop, because he’s absolutely perfect for my needs. He’s just on my wavelength.”

Workshop Recruitment continued to provide exceptional candidates one after the other.

“Daimion and Clare clearly understood what I was looking for.”

Honesty and flexibility created an environment where candidates want to stay

Flexibility with Workshop Recruitment allowed Paul to have staff quicker, saving him money in the long term.

But for Paul, it wasn’t all about the cost saving. He wanted staff that wanted to work there.

And Workshop was facilitating that.

“We’ve had a 100% success rate. I’ve never had that before. I’ve done this quite a few times. I’ve run big warehouses, and I’ve never had a 100% success rate before.  It showed me how much Clare and Daimion understood the business and its requirements”

“You are my number one supplier, and there’s a reason for that, the team at Workshop understood what I was looking for and provided staff that ticked all the boxes”

As Middleby Outdoor inevitably becomes bigger, it will need more and more staff but as Paul says himself…

“I’ve no need to work with any other agencies at the moment.”