Peters Dean Care provide temporary and permanent staff to children’s homes, residential care, hostels and other social care and education settings across the UK. We caught up with Managing Director Ian Dean to discuss his recruitment journey leading to the implementation of Voyager Infinity recruitment software.
Could you tell us about your background as a recruiter and how you decided to start your company?
Ian Dean: Sure, Peters Dean Care was formed on a background of direct social care experience and recruitment experience. I used to work in the type of settings we supply to, which are mainly children’s homes and services supporting adults with complex needs.
After working in recruitment for quite some time as well, I wanted to continue my passion for staffing and the difference it makes to care services – but I wanted to take the values of openness, honesty and integrity that are inherent in social care to recruitment by working a lot more in collaboration with partners and forming positive long-term relationships.
When you started Peters Dean Care were you using a recruitment system or were you relying on spreadsheets or free tools?
Ian Dean: When we first set it up, it was just me and Jess running the company, and we were using mainly Excel spreadsheets. But as things got busier and busier and the team of agency workers and clients grew, we realised that that wasn’t scalable. As we started to recruit more people into the team, the information and the knowledge that I had my head had to come into something that could be shared with others, essentially.
What kind of recruitment services do you offer?
Ian Dean: We offer solutions that cover care service’s immediate, mid-term and long-term needs. We offer three services: urgent temps, ongoing team members, and then permanent staffing. We have been running all of these services for over 13 years and have relationships with a large number of private and council run companies.
What were your criteria when you decided to invest in recruitment software?
Ian Dean: We wanted to have something that was quite heavily customisable. Working in quite a niche area, it was important to be able to work with lots of different functions and to be able to get a system that is set up for recruiters but is tailorable to your specific way of doing things. That was really important, but also working with the right supplier, with a team keen to build relationships over time, take feedback and listen and develop as well.
Why did you decide to choose Voyager Infinity?
Ian Dean: I think the reason why we continue to use Voyager Infinity is really because the system works very well. It’s very reliable. It’s quick. It is very customisable.
Also, I think where it is today is very different to where it was even a year ago. For us, the ongoing development of the product has been there right away, and that continues to be the case. Working with a partner that listens to your suggestions and your needs for certain things that we really needed, and then implements them has been crucial to maintaining our business. It’s been the right solution for us.
How would you rate the level of service that you received over the years, from training to support?
Ian Dean: It’s been very positive. When we implemented Voyager Infinity, we wanted everybody within the team to be on board with it very quickly without affecting what ultimately matters to everyone most, which is their day-to-day function.
We’ve been impressed with how the Voyager team was able to support us very quickly in getting things rectified when there were a few teething issues, which is inevitable. The key is having a support team you can access quickly and who will listen and make changes if need be.
How does Voyager Infinity support your day-to-day business operations? What are the main uses for it?
Ian Dean: We use it for managing all our temp bookings and for managing record keeping for our candidates, and then we use Mid-Office to manage payroll and invoicing. We also manage our permanent staffing services through Voyager Infinity, such as the process of sending CVs and setting up interviews, etc – everything gets managed through Voyager very well.
Did you notice any improvements in terms of timekeeping since you started using Voyager Infinity?
Ian Dean: Sure. I think as the system has grown, it’s become more intuitive, speeding up the process of reaching out to people and letting us see where we are in real time. It has definitely helped us become more efficient, which ultimately means that we’re able to help more and more care services with their staffing needs.
