PLAYMOBIL Case Study
When PLAYMOBIL needed a specialist Retail recruitment partner to support new store openings across the UK and Europe, they turned to C2 Recruitment.
From Retail Management through to Sales Advisors, C2 has recruited complete store teams for PLAYMOBIL, working to demanding timescales and fixed opening dates across the UK and France.
Client: PLAYMOBIL
Sector: Retail – Toys & Leisure
Challenge: Recruiting complete teams for new store openings
Solution: End-to-end Retail recruitment
Roles: Retail Management & Sales Advisors
Locations: Cheshire Oaks, Ashford & Troyes, France
Outcome: Complete teams recruited and stores ready to open on schedule
The Challenge
Opening a new Retail store is very different from recruiting a single vacancy.
An entire team needs to be sourced, assessed and appointed against an immovable opening date. From the managers responsible for leading the operation to the Sales Advisors representing the brand from day one, every hire matters.
PLAYMOBIL needed a specialist Retail recruitment partner that could move quickly, understand their business and consistently deliver high-quality candidates across different locations and candidate markets.
Most importantly, speed couldn't come at the expense of quality.
The C2 Recruitment Solution
C2 Recruitment took responsibility for recruiting complete new store teams, covering both Retail Management and Sales Advisor positions.
Our specialist Retail Recruitment team has supported PLAYMOBIL with new store openings at Cheshire Oaks and Ashford in the UK, and Troyes in France.
For each opening, we built the recruitment campaign around the individual location, local candidate market, roles required and planned opening date.
Rather than relying solely on job advertising, our approach combined targeted candidate attraction with proactive search and direct candidate engagement.
This included:
Complete new store team recruitment
Retail Management search and selection
Sales Advisor recruitment
Targeted local candidate attraction
Proactive sourcing and headhunting
Candidate screening and qualification
Recruitment coordination around fixed opening dates
Regular communication throughout each campaign
UK and European recruitment support
Our Retail Operations recruitment expertise meant we understood not only the individual positions, but how the complete store team needed to work together from opening day.
Recruiting Complete Store Teams Across the UK & France
To date, C2 Recruitment has supported PLAYMOBIL with three new store openings across two countries, with full teams people recruited for each location.
Supporting recruitment in both the UK and France required us to adapt our candidate attraction and sourcing to different local markets while maintaining the same standards of candidate quality and communication.
For PLAYMOBIL, this meant having one recruitment partner capable of supporting multiple roles, locations and markets.
The Results
The real measure of successful new-store recruitment isn't simply how many CVs are submitted.
It's whether the right team is standing in the store when the doors open.
C2 Recruitment has consistently delivered high-quality candidates against demanding recruitment timescales, helping ensure PLAYMOBIL's new stores were fully staffed and ready to open on schedule.
The relationship has subsequently developed into an ongoing recruitment partnership, with C2 becoming a trusted extension of PLAYMOBIL's recruitment team.
What PLAYMOBIL Says About C2 Recruitment
“C2 Recruitment have been instrumental in supporting our recruitment across the UK and Europe, particularly for the opening of our new stores.
Working to demanding and often very tight timeframes, they have consistently delivered high-quality candidates, ensuring our stores have been fully staffed and ready to open on schedule.
Their partnership approach, responsiveness, and understanding of our business have made them a trusted extension of our recruitment team. We value the quality of service they provide and would highly recommend C2 Recruitment to any organisation looking for a reliable people focused recruitment partner.”
Bernhard Kersten
Head of European Retail, PLAYMOBIL
Planning a New Store Opening?
Whether you're opening your first location, adding to an established store portfolio or expanding into a new market, getting the right people in place is critical.
C2 Recruitment supports Retail businesses with complete new store recruitment, from Store Managers and management teams through to Sales Advisors, alongside multi-site, Head Office and senior Retail appointments.
We can build the recruitment campaign around your locations, hiring requirements and opening deadlines.
Planning your next store opening? Talk to C2 Recruitment or call 01743 770 280.
New Store Opening Recruitment FAQs
Can C2 Recruitment recruit an entire team for a new store opening?
Yes. C2 Recruitment can manage complete new store recruitment campaigns, including Retail Management and Sales Advisor positions, with candidate attraction and recruitment activity planned around the required opening date.
Can C2 Recruitment support multiple store openings?
Yes. We can support individual new stores or multi-location recruitment projects. Our work with PLAYMOBIL has included complete store recruitment across multiple locations in both the UK and France.
Does C2 Recruitment recruit internationally?
Yes. C2 Recruitment works across the UK and internationally and has supported clients with Retail recruitment requirements across European markets.
What Retail roles can C2 Recruitment recruit?
C2 Recruitment recruits across Store Management, Sales Advisors, multi-site Retail Operations, Head Office functions and senior leadership through to Executive Search.
How early should a retailer start recruiting for a new store opening?
This depends on the number and seniority of positions, location and local candidate market. C2 works backwards from the planned opening date to create a recruitment timetable covering candidate attraction, interviews, offers, notice periods and onboarding.