Your Next Great
INTRODUCING
RECRUIT & RETAIN.
A flat-fee, done-for-you recruitment service built exclusively for construction and trades businesses.
No percentages. No surprises. Just the right person, in the right role. Typically two to three weeks.
Talk to Alison and her team about your next hire.
No obligation, no hard sell.
You know you need to hire. So what’s stopping you?
You’re stuck on the tools six days a week because there’s no one else to do the work.
The phone rings constantly, quotes are piling up, and customer enquiries are slipping through the cracks.
You know the business could grow if you had the right people.
But every time you think about hiring, the same worries creep in:
“What if I pick the wrong person and it costs me thousands?”
“I don’t even know where to start.”
“I’ve used agencies before. Never again.”
“I can’t afford to pay 10 to 15% of someone’s salary just to find them.”
“I’m too busy running the business to deal with this.”
If any of that sounds like you, you’re not alone.
These are challenges we see time and again with the business owners we work with.
The good news is, they’re solvable.
Not sure where to start? Take our free two-minute scorecard to find out where the biggest bottleneck in your business is, and what kind of hire would make the most difference.
Agencies charge a percentage of salary, send you CVs that don’t match, offer no support through the interview or decision-making process, and disappear the moment the invoice is paid. You’re left hoping for the best and picking up the pieces when it doesn’t work out.
Recruit & Retain was built because traditional recruitment doesn’t work for businesses like yours.
Recruit & Retain is different. It’s a structured, flat-fee hiring process designed specifically for trades and construction businesses. Alison and her team manage the whole thing from start to finish, and Alison or one of her team personally leads every final interview to make sure the fit is right.
We’re not focused on getting bums on seats.
It’s about finding someone who will actually stay, do the job well, and help your business grow.
A BETTER WAY TO HIRE
Recruit & Retain was built because traditional recruitment doesn’t work for businesses like yours.
Agencies charge a percentage of salary, send you CVs that don’t match, offer no support through the interview or decision-making process, and disappear the moment the invoice is paid. You’re left hoping for the best and picking up the pieces when it doesn’t work out.
Recruit & Retain is different. It’s a structured, flat-fee hiring process designed specifically for trades and construction businesses. Alison and her team manage the whole thing from start to finish, and Alison or one of her team personally leads every final interview to make sure the fit is right.
We’re not focused on getting bums on seats.
It’s about finding someone who will actually stay, do the job well, and help your business grow.
Here’s exactly how it works
We work out what you need
A short call with Alison and her team to understand your business, the role you need to fill, and what “good” looks like for you. Whether that’s an Office Manager, a Customer Services Assistant, a Team Leader, or a skilled subcontractor.
We design and run the campaign
We write the ad, choose the right platforms, and put it in front of the right people. Ad spend is included in the fee. You don’t need to do a thing.
We screen every applicant
We review every CV and application so you don’t have to wade through hundreds of them. Only the strongest candidates make it through to the next stage.
We run telephone interviews
We conduct structured telephone interviews to test motivation, experience, and fit. This is where most candidates are filtered out, saving you hours of wasted time.
Optional psychometric testing (ideal for admin and management hires)
For office-based and leadership roles, you can add a General Reasoning assessment for shortlisted candidates before the final interview. It gives you an objective measure alongside your gut instinct, and there’s a strong correlation between a candidate’s score and how quickly they get up to speed in the role.
£65 + VAT per test.
For trade hires, candidates go straight to the competency interview.
Final interview (Alison or one of her team leads the interview on Zoom)
Alison or one of her team personally leads every final interview. You’re not left to make the call on your own. Together, you choose the right person for your business.
Typical timeline
Around two to three weeks from briefing to hire, when the process runs without delays at your end.
Good recruitment runs efficiently at speed, not rushed, but not dragging.
Good people get snapped up quickly. Handing the process over to us means the right candidate doesn’t slip through the net before you’ve had a chance to meet them.
ONE FEE. EVERYTHING INCLUDED. NO SURPRISES.
Price: £1,800 + VAT (flat fee, per hiring need)
That covers:
- Job ad design and copywriting
- All advertising and ad spend
- CV screening (we’ve screened over 200 applicants in a single campaign)
- One hiring need per campaign
- Final competency interviews led by Alison or one of her team in the (Zoom) room
Optional add-on: psychometric testing
For admin and management hires, you can add a General Reasoning assessment at £65 + VAT per candidate. Choose to use it for your shortlist or skip it entirely. We’ll talk through whether it’s right for the role on the initial call.
What makes this extra special: If the campaign produces more than one strong candidate, both can be placed at no extra cost.
For context: traditional recruitment agencies typically charge 10 to 15% of the annual salary. For an Office Manager on £28,000, that’s £2,800 to £4,200. For a General Manager on £40,000, it’s £4,000 to £6,000. And you still don’t know if the person will work out.
With Recruit & Retain, the price is the price. No percentages, no hidden extras, no nasty surprises.
Real results from real
trades businesses
Case study 1
Complete Plumbing
The problem
The business owner had no admin support at all. He was working long hours trying to keep on top of phone calls, emails, and quotes, with no visibility of the finances because transactions weren’t being reconciled. Every decision was based on gut feeling rather than facts.
What we did
Alison and her team designed the ad, advertised for an Office Manager on a competitive salary, screened all applicants, conducted eight telephone interviews, ran psychometric testing, and progressed two candidates to final interview. One was hired.
The result
That person is still in the business 18 months later and has since been promoted to General Manager after taking on extra responsibility. Her appointment enabled the business to quadruple its sales.
Alison and the team at Evolve and Grow are my go-to for recruitment. They have an incredible knack for finding the right candidate, saving me the stress and potential cost of a bad hire. Their system is efficient, reliable, and highly effective. I can’t recommend them enough to any business owner looking to scale with confidence.
Sean, Complete Plumbing
I highly recommend Alison Warner at Evolve and Grow. She managed our entire recruitment process from advert through to final Zoom interviews, making it feel really easy and stress-free. Alison understood exactly what we needed and only put forward high-quality candidates. We’ve ended up with two excellent subcontractors who are a great fit for our team, something that would have taken us much longer on our own.
Julie, Pink Lady Heating and Plumbing
Case study 2
Pink Lady Plumbing
The problem
With one employee due to go on maternity leave and no cover in place, the business needed resource quickly. The owner wanted to grow but had been burnt by bad hires before and was understandably cautious about taking on permanent staff.
What we did
Alison and her team designed the ad and advertised for part-time subcontractors to work two to three days a week. Eight candidates were telephone interviewed and two were progressed to final interview. Both were hired.
The result
The business now has sufficient resource to meet demand, and both subcontractors are working out well. The owner has been freed up to focus on growing the business.
Case study 3
Zealous Electrical
The problem
The Office Manager of an electrical business was overwhelmed. Enquiries, invoicing, scheduling, phone calls, credit control and bank reconciliations had all landed on one person, and the cracks were starting to show.
What we did
Alison and her team designed the ad, advertised for a part-time Customer Services Assistant on a competitive salary, screened over 150 applicants, shortlisted six for telephone interview, and progressed two to final interview. One was hired
The result
Two months in, she has settled well into the role. She handles all customer enquiries and job scheduling, taking the pressure off the rest of the team.
I was kept in the loop at all times with updates. The process was very fast, from advertising the job and interviewing candidates within a week. They were able to narrow down the list within days, leaving a final list of candidates to review before interviewing. There was very little information and time needed from our side once we went through the job description, the team took ownership of the process and notified us when required to do so.
Chloe Barry, Zealous Electrical
Ready to find the right person for your business? Let’s talk.
Built for trades and construction businesses
Recruit & Retain works with plumbers, electricians, builders, contractors, HVAC firms, and construction businesses of all sizes across the UK.
We recruit for three types of role:
MANAGEMENT HIRES
Team Leaders, Operations Managers, and General Managers. These are the people who take the weight of day-to-day decision-making off your shoulders, so you can step out of firefighting mode and into a genuine leadership role.
ADMIN AND OFFICE HIRES
Office Managers, Admin Assistants, and Customer Services staff. The people who keep the phones answered, the quotes going out, the invoices chased, and the diary organised, so nothing slips through the cracks.
TRADE AND SUBCONTRACTOR HIRES
killed tradespeople and subcontractors who can help you take on more work, increase your capacity, and stop turning jobs away.
Whether you need someone to lead the team, run the office, or strengthen your workforce on site, we can help you find them.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
How long does the process take?
Typically around two to three weeks from the initial briefing to making a hire, provided the process runs without delays at your end. We move quickly because we know your time is valuable and you probably needed this person yesterday.
Why choose Recruit & Retain?
Alison Warner is an award-winning business coach, Amazon bestselling author, and speaker who works exclusively with construction and trades businesses. She’s known as “The Trades’ Coach” for a reason: this is all she does.
Before founding Evolve & Grow Coaching, Alison worked with major UK brands including Starbucks and Pizza Express. She brought that experience into the trades and construction industry, where she’s helped dozens of business owners get off the tools, build their teams, and grow their businesses.
Recruit & Retain exists because Alison saw the same problem again and again: talented business owners who knew they needed to hire but didn’t know how, couldn’t afford agency fees, or had been burned before. So she built a service that takes the entire process off your plate, at a price that makes sense.
When you work with Recruit & Retain, you’re not dealing with a call centre or a faceless agency. Alison is personally involved in every campaign and sits in on every final interview. Her team handles the screening, the logistics, and the legwork. You get the benefit of both.
Let’s find your next great hire.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own. Book a free 15-minute call with Alison and her team, and let’s talk about what your business needs.
Not sure what to hire for first? Take our free two-minute scorecard and find out where the biggest bottleneck in your business is.