Armouring: military vehicles

A protection systems specialists, which designs, develops and manufactures armoured vehicles, light tactical vehicles, counter-terrorism vehicles and equipment, for military, security, government, aid agencies and NGOs, first met Mane in 2014 and continues to be a valued client. A member of our defence recruitment team was attending DSEI, the leading defence and security networking showcase, and introduced themselves and Mane’s credentials to the operations manager who was also in attendance.

At the time, the company was working with other agencies with little success and was consequently struggling to recruit the niche skill sets they required. Impressed with Mane’s knowledge and track record within the sector, they awarded us an initial contract to provide skilled labour on a contract basis for its Surrey operation.  By tapping into its existing network of talent, Mane was able to very quickly fill the roles where other agencies had struggled.

Based on our ability to deliver and work in partnership with this client the customer account has grown exponentially in the 6 years since. Today, Mane is one of two preferred recruitment partners and recruits permanent and contract staff across its Surrey and West Sussex sites. So while the initial work focused on personnel for diplomatic vehicles, Mane has since provided candidates to work on armoured vehicles and currently supply staff for a new project this organisation is working on with both the French and Belgium armies.

There’s no denying that Mane’s ability to source highly specialised skill sets and to develop a trusted relationship, has set it apart from other agencies and allowed the armouring company account to grow consistently over the past few years.

The success of this relationship has not been without its challenges; competition for skills is fierce within the geographical locations. We worked with the client to develop understand their workload forecast enabling us to be pro-active in talent pooling suitable candidates. In addition, all employees had to be security cleared due to the nature of the work which can often be subject to conditions – all candidates must be eligible to gain SC clearance. This meant that some suitable candidates were unable to consider the role because they had been working on overseas projects and residing elsewhere, but it also meant that Mane had to keep those who could be security cleared engaged and updated throughout the process which could take several weeks.

Through implementing a comprehensive recruitment campaign for each of the assignments, Mane has been able to fill all roles, substantially grow the account, and has positioned itself as a strategic recruitment partner.

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