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Controlling Agency Spend for Education Sector Through Managed Service Recruitment

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fulfilment
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uplift in filled roles
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reduction in time-to-hire

Company Background

Our client based in the UK, is a Russell Group and global top 100 University, with circa 6,000 employees, providing quality higher education to over 23,000 students from around the world. Exceptional education providers, they ranked in the top 20 in the Complete University Guide 2023 and the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023.

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Client

Russell Group University
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Contact

University Hiring Manager
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Sector

Education
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Staffing Type

Administration, Engineering, Facilities & Estates, Catering, Driving, Cleaning

Recruitment Challenge

Our client identified opportunities to improve the consistency, compliance, and efficiency of its fragmented staffing services. The different spend patterns across faculties, and high volume of agency staff pay and invoices, were inconsistent and time-consuming.

Recognising the need to streamline its agency supply chain, our client decided on a Managed Service supply model. Following a competitive tender process, Blue Arrow, alongside our sister brand Tate, we were awarded the contract.

 

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Recruitment Solution

With experience supporting over 60 universities across the UK, we were able to cover a significant range of roles for our client. Our exceptional supply capabilities meant that we were in the best position to offer support and guidance for our client’s Managed Service Provider (MSP) needs.   

Through our expert assistance, we were able to:

  • Rationalising the complex supply chain, providing cost savings
  • Supplying contingent staff against a uniform pay and charge matrix
  • Consolidating invoice management activity to improving visibility and cost control over contingent staffing
  • Supplying through Vendor Management System (VMS) to support full visibility of the end-to-end recruitment supply chain

Recruitment Journey

Through our experience supplying large brands with candidates and recruitment solutions, we supported Tate to ensure the best for our client. This included presiding over the financials of the project, allowing cost savings to be made from streamlining the supply chain. 

At Blue Arrow, it isn’t only about providing our clients with the best service, but it is also being able to support in any demands our client has and working in support of Tate’s managed services was important to our client. 

 

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quote

Blue Arrow has supplied this university for over 10 years, and we were incredibly proud to support our sister brand to deliver managed service staffing to our client. As an MSP ourselves, we know the initial implementation can be challenging and we were able to bring significant customer insight to this help this project.

Corporate Sales Director

The Results

As a trusted recruitment partner of the university, we worked with the 11 departments and 250+ hiring staff at the university to achieve:

  • 100% fulfilment of all contingent worker roles with an approximate £3.5m annual spend
  • 24% reduction in the time taken to fill vacancies in the first year
  • 178% more roles filled in the second year compared to year 1
  • Low attrition with less than 2% of flexible workers failing to complete their agreed assignment
  • High candidate engagement with less than 3% declined an offer to work at the university


Centralised and improved management information enabled the university to identify the number of workers at any time, cost of their engagement, and ensure that payment is aligned to pay levels.