Flying Tiger Case Study

In May 2014 Tiger (Midlands) Ltd, had 2 stores in the UK and an ambitious plan to open around 28 more stores over the following 2 years. Absolute Works was recommended to them as a partner that could help them to achieve this.

At that time there were only 2 Directors managing the operation and they realised they required a partner to help them to achieve their ambitious growth plans as they had no internal resource, experience or processes in place to manage the opening of the new stores or the general day to day operations for HR, Payroll, Health and Safety, Recruitment and Training.   Without this support their plans were in jeopardy, there would be no way they could achieve their goals within the timescales they set themselves.  They did not want to take on the costs of their own head office or a full-time team, furthermore, they knew they would not have the time to manage a team. They needed a partner to manage it for them, one who had the skill and knowledge but were flexible to support their requirements as and when they needed them without the inhibitive costs of taking on their own head office premises and team.

As well as the skill and knowledge, their partner needed to be hands on, proactive, customer focused, an excellent communicator, flexible in their approach and manage their function with a high level of integrity, someone they could trust and would ‘make it happen’.  Their partner needed to align the HR agenda with their strategy and vision, maintaining their unique culture.  They also wanted a partner that could deliver the whole package so that both they and their team had only one point of contact, this was extremely important to them.  Absolute Works was the perfect fit to do this and were their ideal partner.

Absolute Works can help you to grow your business effectively and efficiently, safe in the knowledge that your company complies with legislation. They can help you to reduce costs for your business whilst at the same time supporting you to grow your business quickly. They will provide you with the skill, expertise and knowledge that may otherwise be too costly, and you can receive all these services by making one phone call or email. You will have your own dedicated account manager (or team, depending upon the size of the project) and you will not have any worries about covering holidays or sickness. You do not need to keep any paperwork in your office, Absolute Works take care of all of that, however, it is available for you to access through the HR portal at any time.  You don’t need to worry about managing employees in a HR department, you don’t have the recruitment costs, you don’t have the costs of office space and equipment and you have the flexibility of service as and when you require it. Absolute Works is a one stop shop for any small business needs across all sectors delivering a first-class service at a fraction of the cost of your own inhouse HR.

The success of the partnership delivered astronomical growth for Tiger (Midlands) UK, increasing sales and profitability, raising the profile of the brand and implementing robust processes and procedures across HR, recruitment, training, health and safety and payroll, whilst maintaining the unique culture. The effective recruitment processes carried out by Absolute Works which included Absolute Works own bespoke integrated HR Portal and automated recruitment process reduced the costs of recruitment for Tiger (Midlands) UK whilst still appointing high calibre employees. Absolute Works bespoke HR portal designed by them was also instrumental in the success of this project. The self-service recruitment and onboarding process for all applicants enabled them to process multiple applications within a short time period, achieving administration and cost efficiencies for both Absolute Works and Tiger (Midlands) UK.

The team at Absolute Works enabled Tiger (Midlands) UK to open 26 temporary and permanent stores during the Christmas period in 2015 and 2016 with just two weeks’ notice in 2015 successfully opening 14 new stores within a 16 weeks period and again in 2016 another 12 temporary stores in a 4-week period. Additional store openings in 2017 and 2018 reaching their initial target.

Instrumental in the success of the project was also the skill, knowledge and flexibility of the Absolute Works team, this project would otherwise not have been achievable. Team members from Absolute Works, travelled across the region to carry out recruitment events at very short notice whilst ensuring all processes were in place, including the induction process and training, including health and safety.

This resulted in an extremely successful and profitable result for Tiger (Midlands) UK. During this period, they were the fastest growing, most successful partnership globally for this Worldwide Retailer who currently operate circa 925 stores worldwide.