Our recruitment consultants started working with What More UK, a leading manufacturer of plastic housewares, in early 2024. Having grown their business over 25 years in brick-and-mortar stores, the business was ready to move online.
Based in Burnley, our North West recruitment team supported the business with 7 crucial marketing and design hires to allow ecommerce growth.
Established in 1999, What More UK has become a leading British manufacturer of plastic housewares, bakeware, and cookware. Their extensive product range includes household storage solutions, garden pots and pet care items. What More UK produces all items in East Lancashire, exporting to 75 countries worldwide.
To continue their success, the business recognised the importance of moving into ecommerce. However, they needed marketing and design talent to facilitate their growth online. With a limited talent pool in the region, they chose to work with our specialist digital recruiters based in the North West.
A core challenge faced by the hiring team was the limited digital talent pool in Burnley. Although candidates are willing to commute, companies based there must compete for talent with businesses in Manchester and Preston, too. What More UK needed the support of our specialist recruitment consultants – Andy Larkin and Yasmin Vachet – to source talent and sell the business to prospective candidates.
What complicated the process, was the number of hires What More UK needed to make to facilitate the growth of ecommerce sales:
The Head of Marketing was to focus on the acquisition of new brands, launching and re-launching them, and raising brand awareness for these new trademarks. They would work closely with one of the Marketing Executives to deliver this strategy.
Meanwhile, the other hires reported directly into the Director of Ecommerce to drive sales. Previously, they had only sold through Amazon, so required marketing support to expand and grow sales.
As a brand-new team build, our recruiters advised on every stage of the hiring process. Andy and Yasmin worked closely with the hiring team to write the job descriptions, set salary brackets and create an effective interview process.
From there, they identified ideal candidates who would be suitable for the roles. It was incredibly important for the team to build strong relationships with each candidate, maintaining clear channels of communication. This allowed them to understand each candidate’s motivations and sell the roles effectively.
With the new hires in place, What More UK are making big strides in their marketing strategy. With the launch of new websites on the horizon, they have certainly boosted sales through their own platforms. We’re excited to see where the marketing team lead them in the future.
Andy and Yasmin at 3Search did a great job in understanding our growth plans, then finding and securing the talent we needed to create a platform to fulfil them. We're based in Padiham, Burnley, and they were able to unearth local digital and creative experts where there is a finite talent pool.Jonathan Cliffe Ecommerce Director
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