Cast UK comments on top themes affecting the retail sector

Some of the retail sector’s biggest names spoke at Retail Week Live about challenges facing the industry, particularly homing in on key themes ranging from international growth to IT.

Peter Hobson, managing consultant at Cast UK, recruitment specialist in Procurement, Buying & Merchandising, Supply Chain, Logistics, Warehousing & Transport, takes a closer look at how these core areas are affecting recruitment sector:

International strategies

Given the increasingly global nature of the retail industry, as a recruiter of retail buying professionals, more emphasis is being placed on understanding the evolving customer base in order for our candidates to be successful. The key to success is to understand what customers are looking for so the buying team can ensure they provide the products that customers’ desire. One size fits all is rarely a successful approach.

The shopping environment

Retail buyers are experts at creating the right shopping environment. With so much competition, selecting a range that is attractive to the consumer and having the products available in the right place at the right price will help to create an environment where shoppers want to return.

IT is core for chief execs

It's great to see CEOs taking IT seriously. IT has transformed our industry by enabling clients to react quicker and speeding up processes to deliver cost saving benefits. Point of sale and point of supply have increasingly become global. Control of data and information are key to obtaining a competitive advantage, which is underpinned by strong IT systems and processes. These projects are being driven by our candidates.

Innovation

Product innovation within retail needs to be led by the buying team. In a competitive market, a pipeline of new exciting products should be continuous to stay one step ahead of the game.

Need for reinvention

Candidates within the retail industry need to embrace change. Omni-channel strategies are changing the face of the retail environment; putting customers at the heart of everything. Those resisting change will be left behind by newer, innovative entrants to the market.

Retail image problem

Working in retail doesn't mean simply working in a store. There are many opportunities to progress across different positions and levels within the retail sector. At Cast UK, we specialise in retail buying. Our candidates have the opportunity to travel the world, work in a vibrant, dynamic environment and progress their careers quickly. More needs to be done to bring this to the attention of top graduates to make working in retail a more attractive proposition from the outset.

Cast UK gives top interview tips to jobseekers at Guardian Careers live Q&A

This week, managing director of Cast UK, Wayne Brophy participated in a live Q&A with the Guardian Careers network to give jobseekers first-hand advice on how to tackle tough interview questions, perfect interview technique and benefit from general career advice.

Some of Wayne’s top tips from the Q&A session include:

1. Don't be deterred by unsuccessful interviews and try not to take it personally. The average candidate will have between five to seven interviews before securing a job. Treat every rejection as an opportunity to make you stronger and better prepared for the next. Always ask for feedback and view it objectively to help you improve your technique. The majority of rejections from interviews are down to culture and personality fit, not your ability to do the job.

2. As an employer, when it comes to choosing between two very skilled and qualified candidates; culture fit, attitude and future potential win every time. I would even put these above whether the candidate is qualified and skilled to do the job.

3. If you have an interview then you’re halfway to securing the job. This means that the interviewer feels you can do the job and the interview itself is all about whether you can fit in with the company culture. Having a positive attitude and showing a desire to work for the business will trump any candidate that has a stronger set of qualifications.

4. Being on maternity leave or having a career break is not a negative. During this time, you have most certainly developed new skills, so simply tell the interviewer all the good things that you have been doing, the new skills you have acquired and, most importantly, how they can benefit the business.

5. If you think having a career break was a disadvantage then it will come across to the interviewer in this way. I have two young children and appreciate that looking after children is not easy! Having children you need to be organised, have good planning skills, multi-task, etc. These skills are all very relevant to the workplace. You just need to tell the interviewer about all the new skills you have acquired and why they relevant and transferable to the job and their business.

Read the full discussion at http://careers.theguardian.com/careers-blog/interviews-perfect-preparation-technique-live-chat 

Cast UK strengthens team with six new promotions

Cast UK, which specialises in recruiting specifically in procurement, buying, supply chain and logistics, has strengthened its team with six new promotions in its Manchester office.

Nicola Hough has been appointed to the position of senior consultant within Cast UK’s FMCG and Retail team, covering the buying, merchandising and supply chain sector in the North West and Yorkshire. Nicola joined the company after spending nine years as a buyer for TJ Hughes, Makro Wholesale and Grace Cole, bringing a wealth of industry expertise.  

The company has also appointed Carla Rossi, Ryan Albrighton, Dion West, Ellie Connor and Liam Halliday to the position of consultant after successfully completing Cast UK’s Graduate Training Academy.

Carla, originally from Montreal, Canada, joined the company after working in procurement with multi-national brewing company, Molson Coors. At Cast UK, she’s worked her way up from resourcer to procurement consultant and looks after the supply chain and procurement divisions in manufacturing and engineering across the Midlands.

Ryan joined the company after studying at The University of Manchester. Progressing from the position of resourcer to consultant, Ryan now looks after logistics, recruiting across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.

Dion, now a supply chain and purchasing consultant for FMCG enterprises in the North West and Yorkshire, joined Cast UK’s graduate scheme after obtaining his degree from Leeds Metropolitan. 

Ellie, logistics consultant for fashion and food industries in Manchester and Lancashire, graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University and joined Cast UK to take part in the graduate scheme.

Liam, now responsible for supply chain and purchasing for FMCG companies in London and the South East, joined Cast after receiving his degree from the University of Manchester and completing an internship with Umbro where he worked as a supply chain coordinator.

Cast UK’s model of working, which sees a departure from the typical 360 recruitment structure, ensures that graduate resourcers focus exclusively on supporting candidates, while benefitting from one-to-one support and mentoring from consultants to aid them in their career development.

Speaking about her experience of the graduate scheme, Carla said: “The opportunity to get to know my market and the world of specialist recruitment before taking on a full consultant role has been really valuable. The support from the senior team is brilliant as they are all so driven, enthusiastic and know everything that you can about this business.”

Wayne Brophy, managing director of Cast UK, added: “The launch of our Graduate Training Academy has been a real success, with all of our participants excelling and earning a promotion to consultant level.  Now that our new recruits have completed the programme, we’ll be attending the University of Manchester Graduate Recruitment Fair [stand 32] on Wednesday 11^th June to seek out fresh new talent who are keen to start a career in the recruitment sector.” 

How social media is shaping the recruitment landscape

According to a recent article by Onrec, the recruitment landscape is facing significant changes with the rise of social media as a tool to recruit and search for jobs.

Social media continues to grow and now reaches over 175 million users. An estimated third of companies use social media as a business tool, with many enterprises taking advantage of social platforms to support the recruitment process.

In addition, according to a survey of 1,200 senior executives across Europe, the most successful country in terms of social media based recruitment is Germany, with over 30 per cent of companies recruiting using online networks.

Contrary to what some may think, business is personal. With a click of a mouse, recruiters scan your Facebook profile, see who you’re connected to on LinkedIn, peruse your holiday photos via Instagram…and so on. But is social media simply an information gathering tool or a genuine mechanism for recruiting staff? 

“Both,” says managing director, Wayne Brophy, of specialist recruitment company Cast UK. “We are seeing social media being used more and more by recruiters and candidates.”

Topping the social recruiting leader boards is LinkedIn, as 94 per cent of recruiters use the professional networking platform to vet candidates before inviting them for an interview; trailing closely behind is Facebook at 65 per cent and Twitter at 55 per cent.

“LinkedIn, as an example, has transformed the way people interact with recruiters. We are seeing companies asking for candidates to apply for jobs by simply using their LinkedIn URL rather than sending a traditional CV. Equally, candidates are using LinkedIn as their online CV and are investing time in developing online profiles to increase their marketability. At Cast UK we are recognising this shift in candidate application trends and are investing in new parsing software to capture this information,” said Brophy.

While LinkedIn remains a popular tool for obtaining information about professional experience, length of tenure and hard skills, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ are used for understanding personalities to ascertain cultural fit and how a candidate virtually interacts with people.

 “Social media platforms are also useful as an information source, as they help to inform us about a candidate’s personality to try and assess whether the person will mesh well with the company culture. This personality fit may not seem important, but as research has shown that 90 per cent of terminations and resignations are due to personality clashes, it’s not something that should be seen as secondary,” concludes Brophy.

For more information about Cast UK, visit www.castuk.com.

40 per cent of SME manufacturers in England looking to recruit this year

According to the latest Barometer from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) as quoted in The Manufacturer, around 40 per cent of small to medium sized manufacturers in England are planning to recruit. The news signals more of a ‘feel good’ factor for the sector and is supported by the fact that 86 per cent of respondents to the survey are planning to increase investment in equipment. Steve Barr, head of MAS, claimed this investment was vital, particularly if we are to take advantage of anticipated growth in offshore wind markets, renewables and low carbon vehicles. Mark Nesbit, managing consultant at Cast UK, commented on the statistic: “This is no surprise as a significant proportion of manufacturing companies are reporting a boost in sales over the last six months. This buoyancy and confidence in the market is indicative of firms looking to expand capabilities and invest in different skills. “Manufacturers need to think about the long-term by addressing skills gaps and attracting the right kind of people into roles to fulfil their growth strategies.” 

Development of skill sets will be key to the future of procurement, says Cast UK

Mark Nesbit, Managing Consultant at Cast UK

As procurement executives are under pressure to perform in an era of globalisation and outsourced capabilities, many are pushing procurement in directions where new models and new ways of working are essential. This year, KPMG has released findings from its “25 in 25” research where 25 senior chief procurement officers and executives were asked to comment on what the world of procurement will look like in 2025.

Commenting on these findings, managing consultant at specialist recruitment company, Cast UK, Mark Nesbit points to the development of employee skill sets to incorporate a broad spectrum of capabilities as key to effective talent management and recruitment, which was noted as “central” in the KPMG report.

“Individuals will be required to develop an improved balance between sourcing expertise and business awareness, and a consultative approach to stakeholder engagement will certainly facilitate this. Furthermore, the attraction of procurement as a career path for the best graduates will certainly be heightened as the industry strives towards recognition as a business partner alongside IT, Finance and HR,” said Mark.

Based on findings, KPMG discovered that top-level execs believe procurement can provide greater value to businesses than they do. Additionally, chief procurement officers (CPO) see procurement’s future role of challenging many of the existing assumptions of procurement as a “cost savings enabler,” developing into a “trusted partner,” and culminating into a future role as “supply chain innovator”.

“As a professional level recruiter in this space, I’m intrigued as to how my clients’ requirements evolve as we move forward, and how university programmes adapt to these new demands and ensure that professionals coming into procurement understand the new role procurement will play in business,” said Mark.

At Cast UK, all senior recruiters have either worked directly in logistics and procurement or have extensive experience in our specialist areas. This business model ensures that recruiters are informed about the industry challenges faced by their clients and they can assist them with finding the right people to tackle these demands.

“It will be interesting to understand if future recruiting managers will truly be comfortable in appointing experienced technical specialists into their teams and then making the necessary investment to ‘up-skill’ them into procurement.

“Though the parallels in soft skills required for success in marketing, sales and business development are obvious with those in procurement, I fear it may be some time before we see experienced candidates consistently being given the opportunity to make this leap - though I very much hope this is not 25 years away,” concluded Mark.

To read the full article, visit Cast UK.

Cast UK continues growth curve with five appointments

Cast UK, which specialises in recruiting specifically in procurement, supply chain and logistics, has bolstered its team with five new appointments to its Manchester office.

Dan Rowe has joined the team as a senior logistics consultant after originally working for Cast UK from 2010 to 2012, having spent the past two years working in a sales role at a vehicles telematics business.

In addition to this, four new faces at Cast UK have joined the company’s Graduate Training Academy; Hannah Villa-March, Natalie Foster, Frances Upton and Genevieve Greensted. Dan has ten years’ experience in the logistics sector and was drawn to return to Cast UK as a result of its marked growth, given that the employee-base has doubled in the past two years alone.

Hannah joins Cast UK after graduating in German and Spanish and gaining career experience in a media sales role.

Natalie, a graduate in Business Management and Economics, was attracted by the opportunity of being part of a growing business, and was actively seeking a career that rewards effort and ambition.

Frances also joins Cast UK after graduating in English Literature and working in China for a short time as a teacher and course co-ordinator.

Genevieve completed her Fashion and Textiles Retailing degree in summer and will be a resourcer within the company’s logistics division.

Cast UK’s model of working, which sees a departure from the typical 360 recruitment structure, ensures that graduate resourcers focus exclusively on supporting candidates, while benefitting from one-to-one support and mentoring from consultants to aid them in their career development.

Speaking about the approach, Dan Rowe said: “The business has grown substantially in the last couple of years. This new way of working ensures the team is focused and freed up to concentrate on important issues like developing strong relationships and really understanding the respective needs of clients and candidates.”

Wayne Brophy, managing director of Cast UK, added: “The launch of our Graduate Training Academy has been a real success.  We’ve adopted a way of working that enables new recruits to bed in and allows us to invest time in supporting their career growth. It also lends itself well to our senior consultants, who are able to provide a high quality, client-centric service.”

Find out more here.