Trebles pumps up its permanent recruitment solution with MET extension

A pump manufacturer and supplier has extended its working relationship with MET Recruitment after a successful jobs push.

Trebles, which operates from a national distribution centre in Wolverhampton and two flagship sites in Derby and Uxbridge, had been struggling with succession planning and in finding the right people to support recent growth.

The company had tried fulfilling a host of positions through investment in apprenticeships, graduates, and direct advertising, but none of these routes delivered staff that stayed the course.

Frustrated by the lack of results, the management team chose to tap into an existing relationship with Dudley-based MET Recruitment, this time asking the agency to help it with the placement of permanent staff.

The results saw 10 new employees found, interviewed and then supported into employment with Trebles.

“There has been a lot of recent investment throughout our Wolverhampton site, the purchase of a building for our London branch and the introduction of a new customer relationship management system,” said Stuart Herritty, managing director of Trebles.

“This has all been done to support expansion, with demand for our bespoke plant solutions and enormous range of pumps, including big brands like Grundfos, Lowara and Wilo, growing significantly over the last two years.”

He added: “People are our most important asset and an area we also needed to invest in due to staff retiring and the business taking a more proactive approach with succession planning, not to mention increasing our commercial and technical strength in-depth.

“There’s no doubt we had a period of ‘failed’ recruitment where trainee employees have left within comparatively short periods of time. With this in mind, we chose to target more experienced employees, and this has been more successful in integrating new staff into our current 65-strong team.”

Stella Wakeham, head of the permanent division at MET Recruitment, said: “This is a perfect example of how we can work with our clients to help them overcome a number of recruitment challenges.

“It’s no longer just a case of moving temporary workers around. We spend a lot of time getting to know firms like Trebles, understanding their pain points and then using our own expertise, systems and pipeline of talent to deliver the answers.

“In this instance, the client found part time/temp staff struggled to learn the specialist nature of their industry and instead wanted a longer-term focus. Training new staff is a sizable investment and, to get the best return, employees need to stay and grow with the business.

“This is something our permanent division has delivered, with ten new staff recruited and making a real positive difference.”

Originally set up to supply staff to the mechanical and electrical trades, MET Recruitment has gone from three people in a small office on the Pensnett Trading Estate to a 23-strong agency operating from a dedicated head office on Wolverhampton Street in Dudley and The Permanent Staffing Hub on the Waterfront.