Real staff - Real burger world

From finding the right premises to attracting the best staff, start-up businesses are not short of things to worry about. Thatís why the entrepreneurs behind fast food restaurant Real Burger World - made famous through the Channel 4 series Risking it All - decided not to take a risk when recruiting an entire workforce from scratch. Managing director Naz Choudhury approached Jobcentre Plus for expert advice on everything from legislation to attracting the right employees.

Real Burger World aims to rival major high street fast food outlets by serving fast food that is fresh, healthy and all cooked on the premises. In time for the opening of the first outlet in Clapham, London, Naz needed to recruit team members right across the board, from managers to kitchen and customer service staff - 14 employees in total. Naz called upon the help of Chrys Lebeau, the vacancy service manager for Jobcentre Plus in the Clapham Junction area.

The first item in the recruitment process was to define clear job descriptions and person specifications, and Chrys worked closely with Naz to work out the exact types of people that would make Real Burger World work. Once this was completed, Jobcentre Plus took the heat off Nazís schedule by managing the advertising of vacancies, issuing application forms and pre-screening candidates. Chrys then forwarded the most suitable candidates on to Real Burger World for interview, freeing up Nazís time to focus on getting the restaurant ready for its launch.

Jobcentre Plus advised Real Burger World that as the average notice period within the catering industry is around two weeks, the recruitment campaign should kick off around a month before the restaurant was due to open. From the pre-screening process, Chrys and her team identified 100 candidates as being suitable for the roles. These candidates were interviewed over 3 days, resulting in 12 people being taken on as part of the Real Burger World team. As the restaurant was still being completed during the interview stage, Jobcentre Plus provided the employer with a suite of interview rooms at a nearby Jobcentre Plus office.

The Real Burger World concept is a fresh idea, and for the first restaurant, I passionately wanted to find people who were right for the brand, said Naz Choudhury. Chrys took the time to fully understand my vision for the company, which was fully reflected in the candidates put forward and ultimately through the winning team we had in place in time for the restaurant launch through to the present day.

This project has totally altered my perceptions of Jobcentre Plus. The services provided not only saved me thousands of pounds in recruitment costs money that was put to good use getting the business up and running - but also saved me time by ensuring that only the best people were put forward for the roles on offer. Weíre now in the process of preparing for the opening of the second Real Burger World site, and will be using Jobcentre Plus to help us find the right staff.

Chrys Lebeau said: Helping a small business to find the staff it needs to grow is an exciting part of the job - particularly when we help to recruit an entire workforce from scratch. Our detailed knowledge of the types of people looking for work in the local area meant we had a vast pool from which to draw upon. We look forward to continuing to help the Real Burger World team find the people it needs to expand the business. Deborah Parry, SME channel manager for London added: SMEs represent a huge growth area in London, and subsequently form a significant part of the employer market. At Jobcentre Plus we are working to develop our services for SMEs and networking with trade organisations to better inform them on recruitment issues.