Clients needed for care temporary staffing agency
- Thread starter MoSpeedley
- Start date
@MoSpeedley - you haven’t got any clients and are unlikely to get any clients unless you start touring for work.
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The reason why these care homes are not using you is because most of them already have a Temp staffing contract with these big recruitment companies for x number of years so they can't use any other recruitment company as this will be a breach of contract. So when you are contacting HR, you need to be asking about their procurement processes and when their current Agency Staffing contracts are due for renewal so you can put your bids in. I worked as a support worker for a number of years and we were always short staffed but we couldn't just take anyone in because our company already had an existing contract with a big recruitment agency so we could only take staff from the recruitment company we had contract with. You need to learn about procurement and how to tender bids for these contracts
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- Original Poster
- #49
Yes you’re right. Like I said earlier when I rang some of the care homes, they directed me to their headoffice, rang their head office, they said they only use a vendor which is the big recruitment company you’re referring to. They said I should contact them and go through them. Which I did, the big recruitment companies told me they have enough agencies for now.
I tried joining one of the big recruitment company but I got stuck because part of their requirements was, the agency must be trading for atleast 2 years, and a reference from a client…
Regarding tenders: Part of the requirements is to provide 2-3 reference I have supplied staffs to, and also provide the company bank statement to show the cash flow. I don’t have all that because I’m yet to have clients.
Many thanks
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Reminds me of one of my old bosses.
You can make placements or you can make excuses.
Who did you call/email and get told about preferred suppliers and the like? Bupa? NHS?
It certainly wasn't any of the small local care homes around you.
If you can't do temps at big clients, you either do perm or target smaller clients.
You can make placements or you can make excuses.
Who did you call/email and get told about preferred suppliers and the like? Bupa? NHS?
It certainly wasn't any of the small local care homes around you.
If you can't do temps at big clients, you either do perm or target smaller clients.
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- Original Poster
- #51
This is not about excuses. These are the things I have done, I wouldn’t be here asking questions if everything I have tried worked out.
I sent you a template of the email I sent to them yesterday.
Yes both Bupa, NHS(uses tenders and part of their requirement is to produce references and cash flow bank statements for 2-3 years), HC ONE, Kingsley health e.t.c
I got their contact emails through the telesales I did and their websites.
Many thanks
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How many care homes did you call today?
How many care homes did you email today?
How many perm clients did you sign up?
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Hi @MoSpeedley I registered on this platform precisely to link up with you.
I am also in your line of business as I have registered a recruitment agency that places temporary care support workers. However, unlike you, my business is fairly recent. I am currently designing the website (and hope it goes live before the end of October). I hope to cover London, South East and Southwest and I have registered with procurement platforms such as Delta E-sourcing etc.
I think there is pretty much we can do together. If you don't mind, we may link up to have a chat and ply this lonely road together.
I am also in your line of business as I have registered a recruitment agency that places temporary care support workers. However, unlike you, my business is fairly recent. I am currently designing the website (and hope it goes live before the end of October). I hope to cover London, South East and Southwest and I have registered with procurement platforms such as Delta E-sourcing etc.
I think there is pretty much we can do together. If you don't mind, we may link up to have a chat and ply this lonely road together.
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- Original Poster
- #59
Hello Shah,
Thank you for reaching out. I’m glad we connected on this platform. I actually haven’t been active here recently, as I’ve been busy exploring other avenues for finding clients.
It’s great to hear about your recruitment agency, and congratulations on your upcoming website launch(I can assist with that if you haven't launch it yet, I'm a pro web developer). It sounds like you're setting a strong foundation with your registration on procurement platforms.
I agree – there’s definitely a lot we could do together, and I’d love the chance to chat about potential ways to support each other in this journey. Let me know a convenient time for you, and we can set something up! I have also sent you a DM.
Looking forward to hearing from you
Mo
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Hi Speedley/Shah,
Would love to have a conversation with you both over this business model. I currently run a home care agency, but we are looking to change our business model to more of a staffing/recruitment agency as we are finding it tough to get clients for homecare.
I have reached out to potential clients (homecare agencies) to see if they need staff and some have said yes, but for the future. I'm just not sure what kind of contracts would be needed to send over.
Additionally, my director has stated that he wants to use an umbrella company to handle wages for staff - any idea on how this works? do they charge any fees?
We have some staff on our books but also actively looking for other candidates.
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An umbrella company is used when an employer wants to avoid their legal obligations to staff and pretend they are self employed. I cannot imagine any carer looking for work would agree to do this as it is against their interests. Given the chortage of carers, they don't have to accept being exploited. The umbrella company charges all fees to the worker. Parasites.
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Who owns the business?
If it's your agency don't use an umbrella company. If's it not your agency find another job where they don't use an umbrella company.
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For the record, we didn't start off as a recruitment company, we we are a CQC registered care agency who had a handful of private clients but look after only 1 at present. We though of the recruitment agency angle due to the number of staff on our books.
We did, however, find the same procurement issues when going for government contracts - long running existing contracts, lack of experience in delivering contracted LA care (as a company), references and 2 years of accounts (which we don't have). Additional to that councils won't even engage with us due to not having a CQC rating (also required for gov. contracts, which is a whole separate issue in itself). I did tender for one that didn't require CQC, however not hopeful as we are unable to produce the two years of accounting as stated earlier.
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If your talking about government contracts RE: homecare, that's where the bulk of the market is. Getting private clients is very tricky (I don't know how much you know about the homecare market), homecare is quite expensive (I know from personal experience of my father). A lot of people don't want to pay and when they do, they pay for as little hours as possible. To be fair I don't blame them - most are hardworking taxpayers contributing to the system only to be told at the end of their working life when they need support the most to pay ongoing fees for care that can drain their assets and life savings. Meanwhile those who've never worked a day in their life have all their care paid for.
LA contracts opens you up to those who have council or NHS funded care which you just can't get through advertising privately as their care packages are overseen by the councils (social workers, care managers etc.), who in turn will only give work to their approved suppliers that they obtained through tendering (or not in some rare cases).
I've also heard though the grapevine that some councillors are getting their palms greased through backhanders from some agencies to get on their framework - as well as some LAs running their own care services (such as my LA) which are in direct competition with private firms - which make it all more difficult for a small firm like us to break into the market.
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I was replying to this part,
Finding clients in the care sector is easy, no idea why you'd bother with Gov/LA stuff starting out, you've got Zero chance.
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Wouldn't say it was "easy" Nick, it just requires a certain approach and market research, and this can require experience and knowledge of the sector or within sales and marketing - of which many smaller and start up recruitment companies don't have - many set up to recruit for industries they have worked in before, but sadly working in the industry, let's say, as a care worker or care home manager for 20 years doesn't mean you can just launch a recruitment agency.
Many nursing/care homes have used particular agencies for many years, so for them to give you a chance, you need to give them a reason to at least try you, if they're not in a contract elsewhere that would break any of the terms. Many also prefer to recruit in-house - give them a reason why they should try an agency if they haven't before, or to try again if they have used one before but reverted back - try to find out why they aren't using an agency.
Also, don't feel signing up to REC gives you any benefits - I personally wouldn't - a lot of the documentation, guidance, advice and training is outdated from what clients of mine have told me.
Also, if you're not directly providing the care, but only staff to care providers, you do not need to seek CQC certification.
When starting out, yes, avoid trying to get these big contracts - build up from the bottom. Find out where in the UK there is more demand for agencies workers, find out what they are currently paying, find out how many staff they book on average a year through agencies or approximate number of weeks or months.
Once you have information, you can look at it, assess it, and go back in with a bespoke offer to attract them to give you a try. Do not try and tie them in to any long term contracts, not even 12 months. Give them an offer that works for both of you, that you still profit from in the way of a discounted rate for the first 200 hours (minimum 100 hours) by end of March 2025 let's say, with discount applied once 100 completed.
The industry is driven by costs - save them £1 an hour, they'll likely budge - but you have to give them as good a service, if not better, than their current supplier.
I can offer assistance in this area to any businesses in the position looking to increase their client base, or candidate base, so feel free to reach out if you're struggling - not only in the healthcare sector, but with many products and services in various sectors.
Pop me a message if you want a chat.
Good luck!
Many nursing/care homes have used particular agencies for many years, so for them to give you a chance, you need to give them a reason to at least try you, if they're not in a contract elsewhere that would break any of the terms. Many also prefer to recruit in-house - give them a reason why they should try an agency if they haven't before, or to try again if they have used one before but reverted back - try to find out why they aren't using an agency.
Also, don't feel signing up to REC gives you any benefits - I personally wouldn't - a lot of the documentation, guidance, advice and training is outdated from what clients of mine have told me.
Also, if you're not directly providing the care, but only staff to care providers, you do not need to seek CQC certification.
When starting out, yes, avoid trying to get these big contracts - build up from the bottom. Find out where in the UK there is more demand for agencies workers, find out what they are currently paying, find out how many staff they book on average a year through agencies or approximate number of weeks or months.
Once you have information, you can look at it, assess it, and go back in with a bespoke offer to attract them to give you a try. Do not try and tie them in to any long term contracts, not even 12 months. Give them an offer that works for both of you, that you still profit from in the way of a discounted rate for the first 200 hours (minimum 100 hours) by end of March 2025 let's say, with discount applied once 100 completed.
The industry is driven by costs - save them £1 an hour, they'll likely budge - but you have to give them as good a service, if not better, than their current supplier.
I can offer assistance in this area to any businesses in the position looking to increase their client base, or candidate base, so feel free to reach out if you're struggling - not only in the healthcare sector, but with many products and services in various sectors.
Pop me a message if you want a chat.
Good luck!
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It's only easy if it reaches the right person, you present what you offer in the "right" way, you have something they want for a cost they're happy to pay and can meet their expectations.
And this is where some companies fall short. So, what might be "easy" for you, is not for others. So where others may fall short in expertise in certain areas, you outsource/seek assistance,
And this is where some companies fall short. So, what might be "easy" for you, is not for others. So where others may fall short in expertise in certain areas, you outsource/seek assistance,
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