The Customer
Arriva is one of the largest transport services organisations in Europe, employing around 49,000 people and delivering more than 1.5 billion passenger journeys across 12 European countries every year.
Arriva provides bus, train, commuter coach, waterbus and airport related transport services as well as bus and coach distribution. The company is one of the largest bus operators in London, the largest bus operator in Denmark and a leading UK rail operator.
The Brief
Arriva UK Bus had embarked on a major transformation programme around the provision of IT support to the business. There was an urgent need to supplement the existing support team with additional high calibre individuals in specific locations who had the expertise and qualifications needed to deliver a number of key objectives. These positions were permanent and needed to be filled within tight timescales having the new people in place for the start of the new year.
The Solution
IT recruitment agency Crimson was approached to handle the recruitment process on the basis of the company’s track record in securing quality people in record time.
Arriva needed individuals with a very specific IT skill set and it was vital that candidates had the right personal qualities and experience to fit in with the existing team. The ideal candidates needed to be people who would start by making an impact quickly without the need for a long learning curve.
Gary Breeze of Crimson led the process. His extensive experience of recruiting in this area and understanding of technology meant that he was able to compile a shortlist of highly qualified candidates quickly and provide on-going advice and support to Arriva during the process.
The Outcome
All the positions were successfully filled within the specified deadline and Crimson is continuing to work with Arriva on other IT recruitment briefs.
Arriva reported that all the candidates shortlisted by Crimson were high quality and there was no time wasted trawling through CVs from inappropriate applicants. Those that were successfully appointed to the permanent positions were deemed to be outstanding and several months on have been recognised as making a real impact on Arriva’s new IT function.
Biju Chudasama, IT Transformation Manager at Arriva, said:
“I had worked with Crimson before and was confident that the team would deliver on this urgent and important project for us. Their approach is based on real intelligence and first class service.
“We secured good people in time thanks to Crimson’s detailed approach and hard work. Those people are now making a valuable contribution to Arriva and we are continuing to work with Crimson on a number of other roles. They are great to work with and their specialist, in-depth knowledge gives them an edge. I would recommend Crimson.”