Creativesheffield - Case studies
Case Studies for Creativesheffield
Plusnet - 'the internet's best kept secret'
Plusnet was established in 1997 when Choice Peripherals launched Force9 Internet. Bought by BT in January 2007, Plusnet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group PLC but operates as a separate company with its own products, pricing, services and reputation. With its head office in Sheffield and satellite offices in Poland, India and South Africa, Plusnet has a total of 350 staff spanning three continents. Plusnet is the internet’s best kept secret. We’re one of the leading UK internet companies and employ 230 people in Sheffield. We help reinforce the reputation that Sheffield is a vibrant, skilled economy with plenty of technological innovation. And we’ve sponsored The Owls for the last three seasons so you’ll see the Plusnet name on half the footy shirts in the city.
Halliwells
‘‘Halliwells is a major UK law firm renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and a practical ‘can do’ way of working. Our no-nonsense approach and wide- ranging expertise help clients achieve their objectives across many sectors, both public and private.’’
Halliwells has been based in Sheffield since 1997 – a strategic choice to access the legal market in Yorkshire.
Halliwells has grown from a small start-up company run by one entrepreneur in a suburban office, to a large city-centre office occupied by over 100 employees.
Halliwells Sheffield – initially an insurance defence litigation specialist - now offers a wide range of commercial legal services.
Halliwells has experienced major growth in its numbers, and is committed to re-investing in the Sheffield workforce and bringing more business to the city.
Halliwells takes a modern approach to legal services, such as investing heavily in brand awareness and promotion, and its base in Sheffield, supported by the necessary infrastructure, continues to help it to prosper.
Ashton Morton Slack
“Here at Ashton Morton Slack we are proud of our community and our city. We have been at the very heart of the Sheffield legal community for almost 100 years and every day continue to strengthen our links with the people and businesses of our region.
“Our city and the wider region is an integral part of our success. Sheffield is superbly placed geographically and is extremely well connected to the rest of Europe. But the factor that stands out for us is the availability of talented people, this is what really makes a difference to our business.” Robert Byars, Managing Partner
Royal Mail HR Shared Service Centre
“In 1994 Royal Mail began its shared services journey. I was an accountant by profession and had already established the Mail’s Finance Shared Service Centre. We started the HR journey in Sheffield in 2001 with payroll and by 2003 we became a full service HRSC.
The HRSC employs 320 staff, a number which usually increases by 50 or 60 over the Christmas period. Royal Mail need to recruit 300 people a week just to stand still, and we are responsible for this happening. For general recruitment we use Job Centre Plus, who have an excellent service and for HRSC temporary staff recruitment we use Reeds. We have just used them to recruit 20 graduates for the centre in Sheffield, to work on a project that will last 6 months and there were absolutely no issues, we always get good people in Sheffield without a problem.
Attrition is around 1-3% in the centre, which is very low and lots of staff have been at the centre from it’s opening. We did start with around 500 staff but due to efficiencies that number has reduced naturally. My aim is to expand by bringing more work in from other areas.
The Sheffield labour market is very good, and it is not overheated like other cities. On top of this, the city’s transport is fantastic; some people travel over an hour get to work but the journey in Sheffield is just brilliant.” Dermot Toberty – head of HRSC at Royal Mail
Liberata
Liberata - a UK’s leader in providing outsourced business processes for both the public and private sector – now has over 30 years of experience, and provides an award winning service.
The company creates value by improving performance, reducing costs and administering more effective business processes than can be done in house.
Liberata’s Sheffield office employs over 750 people and has experienced impressive performance and fiscal growth in the last decade.
“Sheffield is a great place to set up a Shared Service Centre because it has a huge talent pool and is an up and coming area where people want to live and work. That’s fantastic news for any employer.”
Sue Ibbotson, Employee Relations Director, Liberata
Close Credit Management
Close Credit Management – a subsidiary of the Close Brothers Group – has experienced continues growth, and has become a dynamic, ‘solutions-orientated’ collections agency.
“Sheffield is a vibrant city with a diverse multicultural society and two highly regarded universities. Over our 36 years of trading history we have found it to be an excellent area from which to recruit capable and loyal individuals. On top of this, geographically we have excellent access to additional labour pools from the Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster and Chesterfield regions and are well located with strong public transport links, rail networks and close proximity to the M1.” Anne Roberts, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications.
Isosceles Finance
“We selected Sheffield because of its high concentration of creative and digital (CDI) companies. Our core competencies are in the technology sector and Sheffield is the perfect location for our northern base”, commented Mike, O’Connell, CEO of Isosceles. “We have received a tremendous welcome from the City, CreativeSheffield in particular, and the availability and calibre of professionals here is reassuringly high.”
Isosceles Finance, providers of interim, part-time and outsourced accounting and HR are delighted to announce the opening of their Sheffield office.
Isosceles have successfully supported over 100 companies from their South West London base. They have opened a second office, in Sheffield, to support one of their largest and longest standing clients, LINE Communications and implement the next stage of their growth strategy.
The new office opened on 12th September 2011 and is in St. James House in the heart of the City Centre. The office is headed up by Dave Eaton. Isosceles plan to expand quickly and are currently recruiting.
Isosceles will deliver their full service portfolio from both their Staines and Sheffield Offices.
