Case Study

Tina’s made up to work for The Body Shop!

22 Nov 2022

As a busy single mum caring for a child with severe asthma, Martina (Tina) needed a job with flexibility. She was reluctant to place her seven-year-old daughter in after-school care due to her health condition and needed a job that would fit in with school hours. That’s where Ingeus was able to help.

Tina, 41, from Kennington Park in London, has a background in retail and has studied health and social care. Despite her previous experience, she says prospective employers “completely dismissed” her when she said she couldn’t work weekends or evenings. 
“I don’t have a single family member to help me in London, so that limits the hours that I can work,” explains Tina.

Things changed for the better when Tina’s work coach at Kennington Park Jobcentre Plus referred her to the Restart Scheme. The Government programme was established to get people back to work after the pandemic, offering participants support to find a job and employers free recruitment services.

Tina is among the first to benefit from a new partnership between Ingeus and The Body Shop. The ethical cosmetics and skincare retail giant has embraced a recruitment model called Open Hiring, which helps disadvantaged people into work. Open Hiring is a quick route to a job because there are no background checks or formal interview processes. Instead, each candidate answers three set questions to gauge their eligibility. Ingeus is supporting the retailer by recommending candidates from its employability programmes. 

As a fan of The Body Shop’s products, Tina was keen to work for the company. Her Restart Advisor, Sidorela, helped source a customer consultant vacancy at The Body Shop’s flagship new store at Battersea Power Station. She arranged for Tina to visit the nearby Brixton branch and liaised directly with The Body Shop to ensure Tina would be given the flexibility she needed to work during school hours. 

Tina undertook customer service training at the Bond Street branch and learned how to demonstrate the products. She then helped to prepare the Battersea store for its grand opening and completed her training on the tills. 

“I’ve been working for over a month as a customer consultant and it’s been amazing,” says Tina. “My manager Jasmine is lovely, she’s amazing, very polite but straight to the point when things need to be done. She helped me arrange the hours I require – not a lot of retailers would do that.”

Tina has settled into her new role at Battersea and is thrilled to have a job she enjoys. “You need to be polite and ask customers how they are. It comes very naturally with me, I’m a very chatty and bubbly person,” she says. “I am happy and grateful for this job; it fits in with my single parent lifestyle. I work four days a week and am doing something where I can progress. It feels great, it keeps me busy. I always try my best and to go the extra mile. I do have a little laugh as well – it’s wonderful.” 

https://ingeus.com/uk/what-we-do/employability/restart-scheme