Recruitment Services

Framework benefits include compliant procurement eliminating individual tender costs and timescales, pre-negotiated competitive rates through collective purchasing power, quality-assured suppliers reducing failed placement risks, streamlined processes saving internal recruitment time, flexible options matching organisational needs and maturity, social value commitments from suppliers supporting community objectives, and ongoing contract management optimising performance.

Use our managed services (Lot 1) when wanting complete outsourcing of recruitment, managing high temporary staff volumes, seeking simplified single-supplier relationship, or requiring strategic workforce planning support. Use PSL (Lot 2) when wanting choice between multiple suppliers, preferring competitive approaches for different roles, maintaining recruitment control internally, or managing moderate recruitment needs with internal resource. Use talent bank technology (Lot 3) when regularly employing same temporary workers, wanting direct relationships eliminating agency fees, requiring rapid deployment of pre-qualified candidates, or managing high-volume short-term roles like care shifts or facilities cover. Many housing associations use combinations depending on role types and department needs.

Our framework ensures compliance through procurement under Find a Tender Service (FTS reference 2023/S 000-016322) meeting public sector regulations, suppliers have been evaluated with the following criteria 60% quality and 40% price with minimum. Appointed suppliers must demonstrate account management capability, social impact commitments, and service delivery quality. Quality assurance includes supplier performance monitoring, management information reporting spend and placements, contract management by dedicated PfH professionals, and ongoing supplier relationship management ensuring continuous improvement. Framework suppliers provide compliant processes including right-to-work verification, DBS checking, reference validation, and qualification confirmation. Housing associations benefit from pre-vetted suppliers, transparent pricing, and ongoing quality monitoring throughout contract lifecycle.

Managed service provider (MSP) recruitment delivers complete outsourced management of contingent workforce including temporary, interim, and contractor staff through single vendor managing supplier relationships, candidate sourcing, compliance, contracting, invoicing, and reporting. MSP providers consolidate multiple agency relationships, negotiate rates, ensure compliance, provide spend visibility, and optimise workforce planning. Benefits include reduced administration managing one relationship versus multiple agencies, cost savings through consolidated buying power and rate negotiations, improved compliance with centralized processes, enhanced management information, and strategic workforce insights. MSP recruitment suits housing associations with significant temporary staffing, those wanting simplified supplier management, or organisations seeking workforce optimisation. Our framework’s Lot 1 provides MSP capabilities.

Facilities management recruitment sources staff maintaining housing association properties and communal areas including catering managers and staff, cleaning supervisors and operatives, grounds maintenance workers, concierge and estate services staff, health and safety officers, building services engineers, planned maintenance coordinators, and facilities management contracts managers. Facilities recruitment requires understanding housing-specific requirements including working with residents, void property standards, estate management priorities, and health and safety compliance. Framework suppliers provide facilities recruitment across temporary cover for holidays and sickness, permanent placements for established roles, and contractor sourcing for specialist facilities projects. Volume recruitment supports new scheme openings whilst rapid temporary placement capabilities ensure service continuity.

Social care recruitment sources care workers, support workers, care coordinators, and care managers for housing associations providing supported housing, extra care schemes, sheltered accommodation, and care-enabled services. Social care recruitment is important because qualified care staff shortages create service risks, safeguarding requirements demand thorough vetting and compliance, care quality impacts resident wellbeing and satisfaction, and Care Quality Commission regulation requires competent staff. Social care recruitment challenges include competitive markets, required qualifications like NVQ Level 2/3, mandatory DBS checks, and high turnover. Framework suppliers specialize in social care recruitment understanding sector requirements, maintaining pools of qualified candidates, managing compliance, and providing rapid temporary cover for planned and unplanned absences.

Interim recruitment provides senior experienced professionals on temporary contracts covering planned absences like maternity or sabbaticals, filling positions during permanent recruitment, leading specific projects or transformations, providing specialist expertise for time-limited requirements, or supporting organisations through crises or change. Interim candidates typically have extensive experience, can start quickly, require minimal induction, and deliver immediate impact. Housing associations need interim recruitment for director-level cover, specialist roles like building safety leads during recruitment, project managers for development programmes, or transformation leaders during mergers or restructuring. Framework suppliers provide interim candidates with housing sector experience understanding organisational contexts, regulatory environments, and stakeholder relationships enabling rapid effectiveness.

Public sector recruitment including housing associations differs from private sector through compliance requirements including OJEU/Find a Tender regulations for agency procurement, stricter equal opportunities processes ensuring fair selection, enhanced safeguarding and DBS checking for roles involving vulnerable residents, transparency requirements in decision-making, public accountability for recruitment spending, and focus on social value commitments from suppliers. Public sector recruitment often features longer notice periods, pension scheme considerations, and public scrutiny of salaries. Our framework addresses public sector requirements through compliant procurement under FTS regulations 2023/S 000-016322, suppliers understanding sector constraints, competitive pricing demonstrating value for money, and social value commitments supporting community objectives.

Our framework covers comprehensive recruitment including permanent placements for all housing roles from entry-level to executive positions, temporary staff for short-term cover, seasonal peaks, and project work, interim recruitment for senior positions during recruitment or absence, contractor and consultancy placements, volume recruitment for new developments or service expansions, and specialist recruitment for hard-to-fill roles requiring sector expertise. Disciplines covered include housing management, social care and support, facilities and maintenance, finance and corporate services, development and regeneration, customer service, and compliance roles. All three lots accommodate different recruitment approaches from fully managed services through PSLs to self-managed talent banks.

Talent bank recruitment uses technology platforms maintaining pools of pre-qualified candidates that organizations directly engage without agency intermediaries, most suitable for roles with repeat short-term requirements like care workers covering shifts, facilities maintenance staff for reactive works, cleaning and catering staff in communal schemes, and seasonal requirements needing flexible workforces. Talent banks excel where housing associations employ temporary staff regularly, want relationships with flexible workers, need rapid deployment within hours, or seek cost savings avoiding agency fees for repeat placements. Our framework’s Lot 3 provides four technology solutions including platforms managing compliance, payroll integration, and worker engagement whilst housing associations maintain control over candidate relationships and costs.

A talent bank technology solution (Lot 3) provides software platforms enabling housing associations to manage their own talent pools of pre-qualified workers, particularly valuable for roles requiring quick fill like care and support or facilities management positions. Platforms operate as Software as a Service (SaaS) with 24/7/365 access, ISO 27001 compliance, and functionality managing complete recruitment lifecycle including candidate sourcing, hiring, compliance checks, timesheet management, payroll, and management information. Hiring managers access talent banks finding suitable candidates including previous workers, whilst candidates access platforms applying for roles and managing timesheets. Benefits include cost savings eliminating agency fees for repeat workers, speed accessing pre-qualified candidates immediately, control managing own talent relationships, and transparency through integrated payroll.

PSL recruitment uses pre-approved recruitment agencies on Preferred Supplier Lists for filling vacancies, providing compliant procurement whilst maintaining supplier choice and competition. Housing associations should use PSL recruitment when wanting flexibility selecting suppliers based on role type or department preference, requiring competition between agencies for best candidates and rates, managing moderate recruitment volumes not justifying master vendor, maintaining internal control over recruitment decisions, or building relationships with multiple specialist suppliers. PSL approaches balance compliance, competition, and choice. Our framework’s Lot 2 provides nine approved suppliers including sector specialists, enabling housing associations to construct PSLs matching their requirements with ranked or neutral approaches depending on procurement strategy.

A Preferred Supplier List (PSL) is a pre-approved panel of recruitment agencies that housing associations use for recruitment needs, operating on ranked or neutral basis. Lot 2 enables PSLs with multiple framework suppliers or single supplier relationships. Ranked PSLs contact suppliers in order until suitable candidates found, whilst neutral PSLs allow simultaneous competition between suppliers. PSL benefits include competitive rates through framework negotiation, quality assurance through vetted suppliers, simplified procurement with pre-approved agencies, flexibility choosing appropriate suppliers for specific roles, and maintained market tension preventing complacency. PSLs suit housing associations wanting choice between suppliers, those with varied recruitment needs across departments, or organisations preferring competitive approaches rather than single master vendor relationships.

Managed recruitment services (Lot 1) provide fully outsourced recruitment where a master vendor manages all temporary, interim, and permanent labour requirements across all disciplines and geographical regions. The supplier acts as single point of contact, sourcing candidates from their own pools plus second-tier suppliers, managing contracts and compliance, providing consolidated invoicing and management information, and optimising workforce planning. Benefits include reduced administrative burden with single supplier relationship, improved cost control through transparent pricing, enhanced compliance management, consolidated reporting across all recruitment activity, and strategic workforce planning support. Managed services suit housing associations wanting outsourced recruitment functions, organisations with high temporary staffing volumes, or those seeking simplified supplier management.

Average UK recruitment costs vary significantly by role type and method, with agency fees typically 15-25% of annual salary for permanent placements, temporary staff charged at hourly rates including agency margins typically 30-50% above worker pay, and internal recruitment costs including advertising, screening time, and interview expenses. Additional costs include vacancy impact on service delivery, poor hire costs through repeat recruitment, and compliance failures risking penalties. Our framework reduces costs through pre-negotiated competitive rates eliminating individual negotiations, volume discounts through collective purchasing, efficient processes reducing time-to-hire, and quality suppliers reducing failed placements. Framework compliance eliminates procurement costs whilst competitive tension through mini-competitions ensures value for money.

Using recruitment agencies is worth considering when internal resources lack capacity for proactive sourcing and screening, specialist skills require sector networks and candidate pools, urgent vacancies need immediate attention, temporary or interim cover is required quickly, recruitment volumes justify outsourcing, or compliance administration including DBS and reference checking overwhelms teams. Agencies provide access to passive candidates not actively job-seeking, market intelligence on salary expectations, pre-screening reducing interview time, and temporary-to-permanent options testing candidates before commitment. Our framework ensures compliant procurement, competitive rates through collective purchasing power, and specialist housing sector knowledge from appointed suppliers understanding social housing requirements and organisational cultures.

Fill vacant positions quickly by utilising our framework’s talent bank technology (Lot 3) providing immediate access to pre-qualified candidates available for short-term cover, engaging managed recruitment services (Lot 1) where suppliers proactively source candidates, maintaining preferred supplier lists (Lot 2) with multiple agencies competing for placements, using interim recruitment for immediate senior cover whilst permanent searches continue, and implementing robust candidate pipelines through regular talent pool engagement. Quick-fill strategies include clear role specifications enabling targeted sourcing, competitive pay rates attracting candidates, flexible working arrangements broadening applicant pools, and streamlined approval processes. Framework suppliers specialize in housing sector recruitment understanding urgency of roles impacting resident services.

Housing associations face recruitment challenges including competitive markets for specialist roles like building safety managers and qualified social workers, urgent temporary staffing needs for care and support services requiring immediate cover, high costs of recruitment agency fees impacting budgets, time-consuming recruitment processes delaying service delivery, compliance requirements including DBS checks and right-to-work verification, retention issues requiring constant recruitment, skills shortages in construction trades and facilities management, and geographical coverage challenges across dispersed housing stock. Our framework addresses these challenges through managed recruitment services reducing administrative burden, preferred supplier lists ensuring competitive rates, and talent bank technology enabling rapid access to pre-qualified candidates.

Housing association recruitment services provide specialist support finding, screening, and placing candidates for permanent, temporary, and interim roles across housing operations including housing officers, maintenance staff, care workers, facilities management teams, and corporate functions. Housing associations need recruitment services due to competitive labour markets requiring specialist sourcing, time-consuming recruitment processes diverting internal resources, urgent staffing needs where delays impact service delivery, specialist skills requiring sector knowledge, and compliance requirements ensuring right-to-work and safeguarding checks. Our Recruitment Services Framework provides compliant access to specialist agencies understanding housing sector requirements, offering managed services, preferred supplier lists, and talent bank technology solutions.