Sunbelt Rentals - Transforming recruitment and re-branding during a pandemic

Part of FTSE100 Ashtead Group plc, Sunbelt Rentals recently launched their rebrand in the UK and Ireland, having previously been known as A-Plant (along with nearly 20 other specialist business units). Now they are unified as one team and one brand, working towards one collective vision; to own the future of rental.

To continue to build fantastic teams of highly engaged people, they have made improvements not only to their joined-up business strategy but also how they attract, engage and nurture candidates with a revised recruitment strategy.

Having implemented Eploy’s ATS & e-recruitment platform, branded internally as Aspire, they have made some significant progress over the past year in delivering a dedicated in-house resourcing model.

With the recruitment platform as the hub of the recruitment journey, Sunbelt Rentals use the Hiring Manager portal, Agency portal and re-branded their Careers website and restructured candidate content to take account of the new brand and structure.

Tracy Edwards, Recruitment Manager at Sunbelt Rentals commented “The hiring manager experience was a key factor in using Eploy’s e-recruitment solution. With over 190 depots it was critical that we selected a ‘one-stop shop’ system that was intuitive and user-friendly to help hiring managers deliver a consistent and open recruitment process locally. Having a Hiring Manager portal has been revolutionary in transforming recruitment and establishing an in-house direct source model. We have received fantastic feedback from managers at all levels in the business.”

Hiring Managers view applications as soon as a candidate applies on the website and are fully responsible for the workflow to move candidates through the recruitment process, ensuring that they are updated on their application, booking interviews through to submitting the offer of employment to HR.

Aspire has also provided HR and the business with visibility of all recruitment activity for the first time, with dashboards and reporting functionality that is being used to monitor, track and forward plan.

The Agency portal will support Sunbelt in its continuing aim to reduce reliance on agencies and significantly reduce agency spend. In the last 12 months, savings of over 50% have been achieved and reduced cost per hire by over 80%. A preferred supplier list (PSL) is now in place that connects to the core Eploy system putting the Recruitment Team in control of their PSL of approved agencies for direct recruitment. It eradicates any agency duplication, provides the ability to track agency costs and usage and benchmark agency performance and KPI's.

The result is a revamped and professional approach to recruitment which will pay dividends as they continue in their aim to deliver a best-in-class recruitment service for the business and candidates.

Responding to the recent pandemic

The national crisis that began in March presented a challenge that would bring all of the Sunbelt Rentals transformation activity into focus and context. The UK Government’s Covid-19 response plan has necessitated a colossal infrastructure drive, and Sunbelt Rentals has been instrumental in meeting those needs.

Sunbelt Rentals has introduced social distancing measures on their sites to ensure that operations are safe for everybody and essential construction projects can continue. They have provided the equipment needed for 98% of the new Testing Centres built in the UK and have contributed vital and integral services during the construction of emergency NHS Nightingale hospitals.

The crisis has really brought Sunbelt Rentals together as a business and has been hugely beneficial for the morale of the workforce. The importance of this value of ‘teamwork’ has been really clear - work on Sunbelt Rentals sites has very much been a group effort, with senior management team working side by side with drivers, engineers and other contractors.
“From a recruitment perspective, during April, we conducted a Covid-19 vacancy review and communicated with over 4,000 job applicants via Aspire to keep them up to date with the status of their application.

Since May our vacancy numbers have now started to grow, which is really positive and ensures that we have the resource and talent needed to support our future business plans.
As anticipated, our application numbers have significantly increased, and we are seeing strong candidates and shortlists. Our positive employer brand messaging, relating to our work supporting the Covid-19 response and the re-brand, appears to be aiding our ability to attract quality candidates at a time where other employers are facing significant difficulties. Candidates are looking for an employer who can provide them with long-term future career prospects and company values that resonate with them personally. We are encouraging prospective candidates to register for our Sunbelt talent pool, with over 13,000 already registered we can use the Aspire system to match new talent to fantastic career opportunities over the coming months.” Tracy Edwards, Recruitment Manager at Sunbelt Rentals.