Team Spotlight: Seasonal Division

Team Spotlight: Seasonal Division

Our Seasonal Division has been a part of RE since 2007. We proudly provide vital recruitment support to the poultry, agriculture and horticulture sectors of the UK’s food supply chain alongside the manufacturing and warehousing industries.

This month we focused the spotlight on our hardworking Seasonal Division and spoke to Mark Norton, Head of Operations to learn more.

Tell us about the seasonal division at RE?

RE Recruitment has an Overseas division born in 2007 out of innovation to support a key food manufacturing customer with an aggressive peak ramp up in a remote location. This transformed our client’s peak period, and since then we have expanded this offering to support other key clients and different sectors.

The solution works by recruiting workers who are eligible to work in the UK through the ‘settled status’ route, and who have since returned to their home country. Often these workers are still keen to fulfil short-term assignments in the UK that are often very lucrative compared to their earning potential in their own country. The solution therefore comes into its own where there is a need for a stable and committed workforce over an optimum period of eight weeks to three months, and as the workers are motivated to earn, provides a very robust and reliable solution with little absence and attrition.

What kind of businesses do we support and where?

Given the staffing challenges of recent years, interest in this solution is at record levels. The recruitment team of Cristian Raileanu, Violeta Staicu and Marian Chinescan supply into sectors such as Horticulture, Agriculture, Manufacturing and Warehousing as well as the original sector Food Manufacturing all across the UK.

Although the solution is now an all-year-round one, during peak seasons between September and October, we regularly place more than 800 overseas workers for our clients. Often these customers are based in remote locations where there is little access to a reliable labour pool. This complex operation includes chartering flights, organising and checking accommodation and welfare for the workers, and dealing with mandatory legislative protocols. 

How do we support clients with compliance in this sector?

As many customers are based within highly regulated supply chains, we provide our workers and customers with a door-to-door service that covers all elements of worker welfare and compliance. We are often asked to support customers with their own audits and as a result of the sectors serviced often undergo these mandatory audits ourselves – providing excellent results and feedback.

We have our own in-house compliance team who are on hand to provide support when needed.

In addition to supplying those with settled status into the UK, in 2021 RE were granted the Seasonal Poultry Visa licence as one of two UK based providers by DEFRA to support labour challenges in the sector. This further substantiates our credibility as a compliant and robust operator.

What are you most proud of in this division?

Overseeing the division has been a learning experience. Having worked predominantly on the more corporate recruitment sectors previously, I now speak with customers within a broad spectrum of blue chip companies and others who are based on small farms. I am always proud of how the team adapt to our highly varied client base, long range bookings and obtain the required skills and aptitudes to deliver these assignments often with as little as two weeks’ notice.

To speak with Mark and learn how we can support your business, call 01242 505400 or email hello@rerecruitment.com.