ADVANCE GIVES ITS CLIENTS THE 'FREEDOM' TO GROW

May 2006

Since the opening of its first store in St Leonards in 1981, Freedom Furniture has become a household name, and not just because of it showcases one of the largest ranges of furniture and homewares available in Australia and New Zealand. Freedom Furniture’s rapid expansion, from a single store to over 70 stores today has secured the company's reputation as an Australian success story, renowned for good design, great prices and the contemporary 'lifestyle' concept it projects through its network of stores.

Freedom Furniture’s massive logistical operations take place at two Sydney facilities located in Kings Park and Wetherill, and form the manufacturing, warehousing and distribution heart of Freedom Furniture. As Imports, Warehouse and Transport Manager at the Kings Park facility, Ross Bowden oversees the distribution of furniture items to more than 60 destinations across the country, including an average of four to five containers of stock sent to New Zealand every week.

For the past five years, Advance Recruitments have supplied Freedom Furniture with casual forklift operators, dispatch drivers, quality control staff, and manual labourers to the Kings Park facility. Ross says the key to the success of this relationship lies in Advance’s commitment to fully understanding their clients’ needs, both short and long term.

“They really know our business, and we know they will always come through, so it’s a win-win situation,” he says.

The nature of the industry means that the distribution team rarely knows exactly how much demand there is for stock, and therefore how many workers are required, until the work day begins at 6.00am. For this reason, Freedom requires a recruitment specialist with the flexibility to adapt a work team on short notice. Ross says that Advance always meets last minute demands on time.

“The clear lines of communication between us here and the team at Advance mean that we can always let them know straight away if we need more or less labour,” he says. “They’re always available.”

“Advance always supplies reliable workers, which I believe is a result of their rigorous screening process. We’ve tried other recruitment agencies in the past but have found their screening processes to be not as good, which has caused problems with a few “bad eggs” making it through,” says Ross. Advance maintains a comprehensive screening process that means that less than 10% of applicants join the company’s workforce.

“We also use Advance as a testing ground for potential new employees, and the growth Freedom has experienced in the past few years means that we have seen quite a few Advance employees make the transition to becoming permanent members of the Freedom staff.”

Clearly, Freedom Furniture is now benefiting from the long-term relationship it has established with Advance. An Advance team member visits the site regularly, liaising with Ross, his colleagues, and the employees in order to stay familiar with the worksite and to ensure that Freedom continues to be supplied with the most suitable candidates for the job every time.

In the future Freedom Furniture plans to continue to expand and develop its vision of "Every place, every time, delivering the world's best retail experience". And Advance Recruitments plans to keep on supplying the right team, on time, every time.