Specialist compliance-led staffing solution for a national collections agency

Our Client
STA is a leading outsourced collections agency known for managing high-volume, high-value ledgers on behalf of a broad range of commercial and financial services clients. With a reputation for performance and compliance, STA provides tailored debt recovery services that are efficient, sensitive, and results driven.

What did they need?
Specialist Staffing Support for National Expansion
Following the award of a significant new contract, STA needed to expand operations across their sites in Kent and Glasgow, requiring a rapid and compliant workforce ramp-up to meet demanding client SLAs and KPIs. STA required multiple hires across administration, tracing, and litigation. The recruitment strategy needed to be agile, scalable, and the compliance obligations tied to their client’s sector.

To support the new contract, STA required an increase in headcount at both locations. Recruitment had to be completed within tight timelines and to strict specifications, including:

Experienced collections professionals with proven success in fast-paced recovery environments
Multilingual candidates to support diverse customer demographics
Onsite-only roles, with full attendance required at designated office locations
Adherence to strict client compliance protocols, including enhanced background checks and clearances
Ability to perform under specific SLA metrics such as contact-to-collection ratios, call handling times, and recovery rates

The Solution
Huntress’ Recruitment Strategy
Huntress quickly mobilised a dedicated recruitment team across both regions to implement a high-touch, consultative hiring model. Our strategy focused on four key pillars: speed, compliance, quality, and cultural fit.
Key Actions Taken:

Bespoke Talent Campaigns: Regionalised job campaigns were launched in Kent and Glasgow, supported by multilingual outreach where needed. We tapped into passive and active talent pools through job boards, local networks, and targeted sourcing strategies.
Enhanced Compliance Screening: Due to the nature of STA’s client, enhanced compliance checks were non-negotiable. Huntress implemented a rigorous pre-employment process that included:
Right to Work checks
Enhanced DBS checks
Credit checks
Employment history verification covering the previous five years

These checks were managed end-to-end by Huntress to alleviate administrative pressure on STA’s internal team.

Customised Role-Specific Testing:

To ensure all candidates met both technical and client-specific expectations, we introduced a bespoke testing process covering:
Collections scenario testing
Soft-skills simulation (e.g. objection handling, call empathy)
Language proficiency assessments for non-English speaking roles

For the tracing and litigation positions, Huntress identified candidates with niche skills in investigation, case handling, and legal support, helping the client build out these specialist teams quickly and effectively.

Onboarding Support and Scheduling: Managed all stages of the process including pre-screening telephone calls, video interview pre-screening, interview scheduling, onboarding logistics, and candidate aftercare.

Continuous Consultation and Market Insights: Huntress advised STA on salary benchmarking, candidate availability, and market conditions. We also provided weekly reports outlining recruitment activity, candidate pipeline status, and forecasted fulfilment against hiring targets.

100%
Fulfilment in all roles
Zero
Compliance Issues
Specialist
Teams built

Business Outcomes
Huntress successfully delivered 100% fulfilment across both Kent and Glasgow within the required timeframe. Each placement met STA’s compliance, experience, and language criteria, enabling STA to meet all go-live deadlines for their client.

Fully staffed collections teams delivered on performance KPIs within the first month
SLA targets were consistently achieved across both sites
Enhanced compliance requirements were met with zero onboarding issues or delays