Managing a fluctuating workload has many challenges. Not least of these is finding staff, often at short notice, with the motivation and flexibility to work on a casual basis.Dave is a business data-cabling contractor and often doesn’t know from one month to the next what his work load will be; whether he still has the same pool of casual staff to call on  or where  his new staff will be found.  The stuff of logistical nightmares for some but not so for Dave. He’s managed it long enough to have established systems to bring it all together and that’s where Catapult helps out.

“The first time I was in touch with Catapult was about nine years ago. Just by chance I met a person who’d worked for me. He told me that he was getting employment support from Catapult – I hadn’t heard of them before.  So I got in touch with them and employed him again. “  On and off since then, Dave has used Catapult to find other staff.

He says what impresses him about Catapult is that a clear understanding of his situation and labour needs has developed.  Also that the consultants don’t just refer to the job seekers they’re working with individually – they have a chat between themselves to consider any of the job seekers each of them is working with in order to  put forward people they think could realistically meet those needs.

“They’re not just supportive of them [job seekers] but employers as well” says Dave “Their support makes it easier to employ the people they put forward.”