Driving success for Specsavers as their top PSL & MSP provider.
Specsavers is a British multinational optical retail chain operating over 1,000 stores in 11 countries, providing affordable and accessible eye care. Matchtech have supported Specsavers for over 10 years across Technology, Manufacturing & Professional Services on both a permanent and contract basis.
Their challenge.
Prior to becoming Specsavers’ MSP partner, we were appointed part of their PSL and, whilst they didn’t have any prominent issues with finding contractors, there were some inefficiencies within their processes. Over time, Specsavers’ became particularly reliant on temporary workers for their business support, IT and customer support roles due to peaks in demand and internal project requirements. Their challenges included:
1. A lack of control, visibility & governance.
Specsavers faced challenges in scaling their operations due to limited visibility and control over workforce costs, processes, and governance, resulting in a fragmented operational environment. Gaps in tracking and reporting made it harder to pinpoint inefficiencies, while restricted insight into contractor workflows impacted consistency and productivity. Additionally, evolving governance legislations posed compliance challenges, increasing financial, legal, and reputational risks in a highly regulated industry.
2. Inefficient recruitment process.
The structure of Specsavers’ TA team meant that temporary recruitment was managed alongside permanent hiring, leading to inefficiencies and administrative strain, especially during rapid growth. This dual responsibility made scaling challenging, emphasising the need for distinct processes to ensure efficiency and focus.
3. A diluted
brand.
Specsavers’ use of multiple agencies led to fragmented recruitment activities, causing inconsistent messaging and a disjointed candidate experience. Competing recruiters often contacted the same candidates with conflicting information and had varying candidate management processes. As a recognised world-leading employer of choice, Specsavers highly-prized their candidate experience and wanted to better control brand representation.
How we helped.
As a local supplier with strong capability across Specsavers IT skills, we quickly established ourselves as a key PSL provider delivering niche skills, including but not limited to:
Cloud
DevOps
Digital
E-Commerce
Software Development
Project Management
Business Analysts
Later in 2016, Specsavers’ contractor population had grown significantly through an expansive and disparate supplier base. Through discussions with Specsavers regarding their concerns about their growing demand and the complexity of their supply chain, their goal become clear: they required an expert MSP partner to fully manage, centralise and scale their solution. We identified opportunities for improvement and proposed an MSP model to centralise their demand under a single service provider. We addressed their key challenges through:
Providing full workforce visibility
Our MSP provided Specsavers with a centralised solution that offered real-time visibility into their workforce data. This helped better manage contractor spend, standardise compliance, and make informed decisions based on accurate reporting. By consolidating Specsavers’ supply chain, we ensured a consistent and transparent hiring process, reducing inefficiencies and improving overall workforce management. We also expanded our solution to provide enhanced visibility and compliant worker engagement across various business areas and skill sets – many of which are delivered by specialist suppliers and Specsavers’ internal Marketing brand, The Agency.
A dedicated solution team
Our dedicated solutions team acted as an extension of their TA function, managing the end-to-end process from sourcing to onboarding, while ensuring a seamless experience for both hiring managers and candidates. This alleviated the administrative burden of Specsavers’ internal team, allowing them to focus on permanent hiring and strategic workforce planning. By eliminating duplicated efforts from agencies and bringing all temporary recruitment under central governance and control, we were able to ensure Specsavers’ brand remained untarnished.
Operational efficiences
During periods of rapid expansion, managing contract renewals and agency relationships were a significant burden for their TA team. By consolidating all contractor hiring under our MSP, we simplified these processes, ensuring Specsavers could scale efficiently whilst keeping temporary workforce management under their influence and control.
Optimising spend
We introduced cost-saving measures by migrating workers from expensive third-party providers onto our payroll, which not only reduced costs, but also improved contractor retention. We rationalised and renegotiated supplier terms to deliver long term savings. By improving worker tenure management, we drove commercial benefits and strengthened the commercial advantages of volume hiring.
The results.
As a result of becoming Specsavers’ temporary MSP provider and managing c.100 workers at any one time, we have produced over £1,000,000 cost savings within the first three years with total skills fully almost entirely through our group delivery brands. We have included key achievements of our partnership below:
direct fulfilment by our group specialist brands
placements since
2016
cost savings across contract tenure
SLA
compliance
After almost 10 years, Gattaca Solutions remains Specsavers trusted MSP partner. We’re successfully maintaining a near-100% direct fulfilment, cost-savings, and constantly looking for ways in which we can provide added value.
Outstanding client satisfaction.
“We engaged Gattaca Group as its Managed Service Provider nearly 5 years ago and it has been a truly collaborative relationship since. They have supported Specsavers through change and have adapted their service offering in line with our changing needs over the years, seamlessly. Gattaca is our 'go to' provider for both contract and permanent recruitment requirements and work consultatively with our hiring managers on specialist roles, such as DevOps. Their in depth understanding of our unique culture and business means they know how to challenge and support in the right way.”
- Brunella Kernes, Resourcing Manager
Added value.
Beyond operational efficiencies, we positioned ourselves as a strategic partner by offering Specsavers valuable market intelligence. Our MSP has been underpinned by consultancy and collaboration to support them in reaching their workforce and wider business goals, including:
Leveraging our in-hose STEM recruiters
We operate a Master Vendor model to deliver Specsavers’ technical IT requirements, delivering 100% fulfilment through our in-house STEM specialist recruiter, Matchtech. Matchtech are Specsavers’ leading PSL provider working across their most difficult skill sets including IT, Finance and PMO.
Strengthenin our partnerships through shared resources
During the first five years of the programme, we built a strong, collaborative relationship with Specsavers by integrating seamlessly into their culture. To support their growth, we provided free access to our meeting rooms to help accommodate their expanding operations, engaged them in events and collaborate on sustainability and diversity initiatives. This unique approach reinforced our roles as more than just a service provider, positioning us as a trusted, value-adding partner in their long-term success.
IR35 reforms guidance & consultancy
With our deep understanding of the market and evolving legislative changes, we provided crucial support during the private sector IR35 reforms, organising workshops and meetings to help Specsavers navigate the complexities of these changes.
Provision of benchmarking & competitor analysis
Acting as their eyes and ears in the external market, we’ve ensured Specsavers remained competitive in attracting top talent by providing regular market insights covering rate benchmarking, candidate motivations and challenges, market mapping, alongside competitor analysis. This has helped Specsavers make more informed decisions and for us to develop and implement targeted strategies to ensure 100% direct fulfilment.
Employer branding & EDI
As workforce expectations evolved post-COVID, we advised Specsavers on employer branding, EDII strategies, and engagement approaches to align with the changing priorities of both candidates and internal stakeholders.
Permanent recruitment support
In addition to delivering their MSP, Matchtech and Barclay Meade remain preferred suppliers to assist in delivering their permanent recruitment. By doing this, we’re ensuring that their TA team are benefitting from total talent delivery across our entire group, to fully complement their TA team’s activities with tailored support.
Get in touch.
Reach out to our Solutions Director or our Delivery Manager to discuss how we can support you.
