Retinue’s managed service model was utilised by Sanctuary within a number of different categories including care and support, IT, finance, and housing. Due to the geographical challenge of care and support, Retinue created regional hubs of neutral lead suppliers ensuring off-contract, geographical, and category challenges were solved quickly and effectively.

Prior to Sanctuary selecting Retinue as their managed service provider, they utilised a PSL approach for all temporary recruitment requirements. With over 4,000 employees, Sanctuary’s care and support directorate was a specific challenge, as over the last two years, directors identified a quality and people shortage to recruit support workers in specific ‘hotspots’. Often engaged outside of the process, suppliers were not following due diligence, causing cost increases and compliance issues. This had a detrimental effect on the services they provided to customers, resulting in over £2,000,000 off-contract spends for the year.

As part of the managed service approach, Retinue was committed to working in partnership with Sanctuary to overcome these challenges. In relation to people shortages, Retinue worked closely with Sanctuary to build regional hubs of local suppliers linked to the identified hotspot locations. In addition, to reduce off-contract spend, Retinue:

• Identified and engaged with managers utilising off-contract agencies
• Identified and engaged with off-contract suppliers
• Created monthly meetings with procurement to proactively target off-contract spend
• Rewarded high performing agencies with additional supply
• Supported existing suppliers with clear and concise candidate communication