Talarius

Talarius is an Online, On-Mobile & In-Store Market Leading Slot Machine and Internet Gaming Operator in the UK and operates Quicksilver.co.uk Online Gaming Web Site. Talarius operates c.180 Adult Gaming Centres and manages c.10,000 machines in the UK

Talarius is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tatts Group, one of the largest gaming companies in Australia, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Phase one
Talarius undertook an business transformation and investment program to improve the appearance & format of the gaming centres, along with a major overhaul of the IT systems & infrastructure across the estate. Having worked with Harcourt Matthews whilst at Thresher, the CFO (now CEO) engaged Harcourt Matthews to undertake a number of cross-functional roles on both a retained and contingency basis. Core objectives included:

– Identification of the key roles necessary to project manage the investment
– Advising on the most cost-effective and efficient recruitment methods

Due to the limited budget available, a proactive campaign utilisied several forms of non-traditional media to identify & attract non-active and passive candidates, and began with a networking program to identify which organisations and individuals in them who had the required skill sets, resources included:
– LinkedIn – this site enabled Harcourt Matthews to identify individuals undertaking similar roles in relevant organisations, allowing a dialogue and networking to begin to establish market demand, salary expectations and core competencies for these individuals
– Twitter – as it was quickly established that relevant individuals were frequent users of twitter, Harcourt Matthews began following key contacts and building up the online presence for these opportunities with a marketing campaign utilising White Papers, Blogs and Webinars
– Facebook – the rise of social media allowed Harcourt Matthews to advertise free of charge to a number of groups and to tap into social networks

Due to evolving budgets and timescales, a first shortlist highlighted new and alternative requirements within the role, so a 2nd shortlist was presented reflecting the new requirements. Additionally, Harcourt Matthews has successfully supported other Talarius business functions including Operations, Finance and Marketing.

Phase two
Internal reviews of existing and new businesses identified the need to leverage higher calibre and quality staff for head office, regions and adhoc projects with further staffing required in UK Accounting & Finance, HR, IT and Retail Operations. The Group CEO sought to make step changes in the level and capability of these teams and at the same time reduce costs within the whole UK business community focusing on the customers and operations.

Several key objectives were highlighted, including:

– Development & replenishment of the existing teams and the increase in depth of capability & calibre of individuals within the organisation which has under gone rapid growth and business transformation
– Identifying commercially and technically focused individuals to evolve best practice in UK Accounting & Finance, HR, IT and Retail Operations in reporting & commercial financial and operations control

Harcourt Matthews established recruitment campaigns and a range of candidate sourcing processes to attract a wide range of candidate talent, encompassing:

– Accessing our network & extensive CV database, existing contacts and gaining new referrals / recommendations
– Accessing several jobsite CV databases covering the active UK candidate market
– Advertising on several job boards
– Using our internal and several 3rd party outsourced research businesses contracted to identify and to supply scarce candidate resource (passive & non active people)
– Specific sector headhunting campaigns complementing the above approach
– Messaging programmes to specific accounting & finance trained CIMA, ACCA and ACA individuals who fulfilled the accounting & finance job specification & brief.

This has resulted in supporting the recruitment of several qualified & part qualified accountants and accounting staff and IT & Operations staff for the UK business and inclusion as a preferred supplier list for the UK business.

Jobs recruited for include: Interim, temporary & permanent

Operations jobs
Commercial Manager
Head of Gaming – Mktg Analyst

Accounting & Finance jobs
Data Analyst
Financial Analyst
Interim Internal Auditor / Business Change Consultant
Finance Manager
Management Accountant

Human Resources – HR jobs
HR Business Partner
HR Regional Training Officer

IT – ICT Jobs
IT Systems Manager