Recruitment

Marc Linley, Co-Founder and General Manager, Pineapple Recruitment.
Published: May 4, 2020 | Updated: 4th May 2020
A new recruitment company specialising in customer service and call centre candidates is offering to place people for free during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jobseekers can register with Bournemouth-based Pineapple Recruitment at no cost.
Businesses can also use its website to register a vacancy or discuss more in-depth requirements.
Marc Linley, Co-Founder and General Manager, said the aim was to help as many staff and businesses affected by Covid-19 as possible.
He added: “We really feel that it’s our duty to help people during these challenging times.
“This is a time for collaboration and cooperation.
“If the recruitment sector work together then we can at least make it easier for people who may have lost their jobs to find new work.
“We’ve been planning our launch for months.
“Current conditions are very tough but we think it’s the perfect time to get ready for when things start to pick up.”
Marc, 39, was Head of Recruitment and Training at DJS (UK) Limited and PiggyBank from 2014 to last year.
He was responsible for expanding the payday lender’s call centre from five phone-based agents to a 60 strong multi-channel contact centre.
Before that he was Recruitment Manager at the Richmond Group.
Dan Ware, Pineapple Recruitment’s Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, pictured left, has worked in financial technology (fintech), financial services and marketing for the past 18 years.
From 2012 to 2019 he was the CEO of DJS (UK) Limited and PiggyBank until the company went into administration in December.
Last year he was named as 2019 Outstanding Young Executive by the Global Business Excellence Awards.
Other key members of the team include Sam Baxter, Head of Business Relations and HR, and formerly Group Management Accountant at DJS (UK) Ltd.
The customer service sector employs more than 300,000 people and pays out over £5bn in annual wages.
However, UK call centres replace around 20 per cent of their phone agents every year.
Marc said there was likely to be a “massive increase” in call centre work as the current crisis began to ease.
He added: “With all of our team having worked in former customer service roles, we know the difficulties businesses face when looking for high calibre call centre agents.
“We’re now keen to share how we’ve overcome this to staff a talented customer service department.”
Marc said a unique aspect of Pineapple Recruitment’s service was its bespoke training programme.
This comprises workshops and relevant tests to understand the basic skills required for a role in customer service,
Pineapple Recruitment aims to offer a grading system for candidates to allow potential employers to assess their experience and skill level.
Marc said: “Running an efficient customer care team relies on hiring a well-balanced team of employees.
“Pineapple Recruitment offers this programme for candidates and businesses alike to better understand the employee’s skill set and value they can bring to a company.”
The company’s website has been designed and developed by Bournemouth-based digital marketing agency Big Golden Pineapple.
It features a sign-up area and details of how Pineapple Recruitment came to be formed.
Marc said: “We believe in quality over quantity.
“A lot of people are losing their jobs and we’ve been inundated with people looking for work.
“We will do our very best to match the right candidates with the right businesses.”