Arjun Patel

Premier Cavendish Square, Swindon, Wiltshire

“We’ve been lucky when it comes to recruitment. We’ve got a smaller shop, but we had a sponsorship licence where we sponsor someone to manage the store.

“Generally for us, it’s all about referrals. Someone works at our store and wanted more money, so we referred them to my mum’s Subway store. Now that person has a vested interest in doing their job right because we’ve helped them achieve what they wanted. It also saves money on using recruiters and recruitment websites. And you’ve already got a reliable reference right there in front of you. If I recommend someone to someone else, that person is a reflection of me. I’m not going to refer someone who’s lazy or bad at their job.

“We look on indeed.com as well, but the quality isn’t always great. Some people will be applying for a manager’s role straight out of college.”

Muntazir Dipoti

Todmorden News Centre, West Yorkshire

“It all depends on the situation, what staff retailers need and for what hours. I have got a mixture of ages of my staff – I have someone in their 60s who’s been me with for 15 years, some people who are in their late 40s, others in their late 20s and a couple of part-time students.

“Because I also recruit paperboys and girls, I can have them start at 13 and look at what potential they’ve got, and then, if they’re good, when they’re 16 I’ll give them a few hours at the weekend stocking shelves and then slowly build them up. That way I don’t need to go looking for other people to recruit, but I also have that flexibility because they’re part-timers.

“I wouldn’t recruit 18-to-20-year-olds for full-time roles because they like to go out on Friday nights and have their freedom, but I would certainly get them for part-time roles because you’ve got that flexibility with them.”

Dee Goberdhan

Albany Road Post Office, Cardiff

“Indeed.com generates hundreds of candidates and it takes a long time to wade through all of them and weed out the potential good candidates. So, if you want to generate a volume of candidates, it’s very good. You can see their CVs and I can decide who to ring for a phone interview. After that, I’ll understand who to bring in for a face-to-face interview. I thought of doing video calls, but I didn’t do it because it might make people nervous. The phone call is less intrusive. When my last advert went up in May, I had 146 applicants.

“I’m really looking for the willingness to learn. It’s about having the right attitude because I know I can train all the skills they need for the job, but what I can’t instil in people is the attitude and the willingness to work and learn from mistakes. I also look for people who’ll fit into the family culture that we have in the business as well.”

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