Operating in the heart of Sheerness Docks, Olivers Personnel is the perfect example of a “phoenix” business.
When Portside Contractors withdrew labour supply from Peel Ports Sheerness after 22 years, Director Lorraine Wade started to work with Peel to ensure that there was a continued supply of labour to the port and plenty of opportunities for work for the staff who were previously working through Portside Contractors. This time working with her Son and Daughters, Lorraine created Olivers Personnel Services as a family business; and that ethos is enshrined in all that they do.
Lorraine discussed what she hopes will make Olivers an integral part of the Sheerness community: “We are building a company on fairness and efficiency, making sure that we engage with every member of staff on a personal level – after all everyone involved in Olivers is the public face of Olivers. We have a very ‘hands on’ approach and ourselves work outside alongside our labour force – this helps us better understand the job we ask people to do and the challenges they can face. We are extremely proud to say that we have recruited 47 people already, most of whom are from the local area.
"Olivers’ aim is to be provide a platform of flexible work to suit all of our staff’s needs, consistently exceeding our customers’ expectations in doing so."
Lorraine feels that they stand apart from their competitors due to the emphasis that they place on developing and maintaining these relationships by modelling everything they do on these aims – and "smiling" at the same time.
Lorraine spoke about her long-term plans for Olivers: “Our plan is to understand the development strategy within the port, so that we will be able to recruit and train staff in line with their plans; ensuring that more skilled jobs are filled in good time based on our client’s needs. We are also diversifying into other business sectors to ensure that our workforce has continuity of work and creating even more opportunities for anyone to fulfil their own personal goals and develop their skills.”
Olivers Personnel Services Ltd
Archway House
Sheerness Docks
Sheerness
ME12 1RS
01795 580973