Airport Recruitment Firms Fly High with Pioneering Joint Venture

Posted by on 26 Sep 2016

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Two leading firms have teamed up to expand their recruitment services to UK and overseas airports.

Airport Placements Limited (APL) has entered into a joint venture (JV) with HR GO plc, a multi-million pound family-owned recruitment and business services company.

APL, based at Birmingham Airport and founded in 2009 by Jez Heenan and Kevin Wells, supports the aviation industry by finding and placing staff at a dozen airports nationwide.

They include Birmingham, the UK’s third busiest, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, London Stansted, Bristol, Cardiff and Nottingham East Midlands. Both partners hope to extend their services to overseas airports.

The JV gives APL access to more than 30 HR GO outlets in key centres across the UK, making it easier to recruit staff to work at the airports.

APL has become an industry leader through innovation and establishing strong partnerships with airlines, airports and aviation service providers.

HR GO has access to a database of close to one million people, while APL has 31,000 candidates on its database and works with clients such as Swissport International, Flightcare Ground Services, Aviator, Airline Services, Emirates and Menzies Aviation.

APL has developed a comprehensive search and review process tailored to the unique requirements of airports, ensuring the quality and reliability of placed staff. Candidates are carefully screened before employment.

Typical job roles are technical engineers, air traffic controllers, baggage handlers, passenger service agents, ramp operatives and aircraft servicing personnel.

Jez Heenan said: “We have built a strong company that offers unique and valued recruitment services to airports. It has an exceptional reputation and is in an excellent position to grow. However, we recognised that a larger organisation with greater resources would be better able to exploit these opportunities.

“That’s why we are delighted to join the HR GO family of companies. It has a long and distinguished record of working successfully with clients and candidates.”

Mr Heenan added: “We are confident that together we can take APL to a new level by providing our specialist services to even more airports. We will continue to apply the most rigorous interview and security checks to everyone considered for placement and ensure the highest quality of the people we place.”

HR GO was founded nearly 60 years ago and has grown into a £90m turnover business. It serves clients and candidates in permanent and temporary roles, and has successfully placed thousands of people over the years.

Company chairman Jack Parkinson has pioneered joint ventures as a way of growing businesses and giving senior staff a stake in their success.

Mr Parkinson welcomed the JV with APL. “I have been impressed by what the shareholders have achieved in a short time. Together we are much stronger. The airport service industry is growing fast, with increasing demand for airside operatives.”

Mr Parkinson acknowledged that the industry faced security challenges, especially airside.

“Security issues are absolutely paramount. APL applies the most rigorous checks and has developed systems that combine tight security with great client service. We look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

Kevin Wells, APL director, added: “We are proud of what we’ve achieved in the past seven years, supporting many clients for the third, and in some cases fourth consecutive year, while also welcoming new clients throughout the UK.

“We continue to invest time and resource in our processes to refine the selection and candidate area, thus improving the application experience and ensuring a high calibre of staff is supplied to our clients.

“Our new joint venture with HR GO builds on our achievements, expertise and processes to give our clients the unrivalled service they expect.”