Service Continuity with Seamless Staff TUPE Transfer
Company Background
Our client is a leading communications company, which serves homes and businesses in the UK & Ireland, as well as 180 countries worldwide. The business has circa 104,000 employees, and provides fixed-line services, broadband, mobile and TV products and services, as well as networked IT services.
Quality customer service and speed of response is central to the continued success of its call centre operations. Its contact centre advisors go to extraordinary lengths to help people stay connected and are trained in building rapport, showing empathy, and resilience to deliver a positive outcome on every call.
Client
Contact
Sector
Staffing Type
Recruitment Challenge
Our client wanted to simplify contract and relationship management by placing their temporary staffing requirements for Emergency Call Services under a single service provider. At the time, the Emergency Call Services were experiencing heightened demand, with monthly call volumes exceeding 20% during their ramp period.
To manage this, we were asked to source an additional 200 call centre staff, alongside overseeing the transition to one service provider. Core to the implementation of the new single-supplier service delivery model was a TUPE transfer of 450 call centre staff and their different contractual arrangements across 19 locations in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Recruitment Solution
To ensure a smooth transfer from the previous provider, our Blue Arrow Project Team included HR specialists who conducted thorough contract reviews to ensure the protection of existing employee agreements and rights. A specialist Implementation Team was put in place to expedite the service changeover and to lead the TUPE transfer process.
Our technology platform was central to the process, enabling transferring staff to self-book consultations, complete on-boarding procedures, and upload ‘Right to Work’ documentation at their convenience. Automated notifications ensured prompt completion within a two-week window.
The existing Blue Arrow Account Management Team responsible for the supply of customer service staff was expanded to include a new dedicated structure to oversee workforce needs.
Recruitment Journey
With the previous provider arrangements lasting over a 20+ year period, a significant number of the workforce held long term tenures of up to ten years or longer. Our team managed the implications of up to four different contract types, each with their own allowances for holidays, pensions, and other key benefits.
The Project Implementation Manager ensured that roles, responsibilities, timescales, and dependencies were defined to ensure a smooth transition and hiring process. Both our implementation specialists and our central resourcing team shared the work to ensure that the target was met for the transfer and hiring requirements.
We took over an incumbent supplier who had a 20+ year relationship with the client meaning a very complex TUPE transfer including many long-serving staff, with a variety of forms of employment contracts.
Business Change & Implementation Director, Blue Arrow
The Results
The efficiency of our online technology-driven services and existing tenure as a staffing partner played a key role in bringing the expertise needed to manage the complex TUPE transfer and recruitment of additional staff.
We achieved:
- 0 disruption to our client and workers
- Seamless transfer of all 450+ staff
- Initial briefings for all staff conducted with 24 hours
- Consultations completed within two weeks
- Transfer complete within four weeks
Ongoing management of the call centre staff welfare is overseen by the on-site team, while resourcing for new staff is delivered through our Customer Success Hub.
