02/11/2009 James May's Toy Stories: Site Manager with a difference....

When we heard that James May was planning to build a house made of Lego, and needed a Site Manager we wondered whether Tonka would be managing the logistics and if Bob The Builder might be interested in the role?

Finding a Site Manager capable of managing the project, providing creative solutions to unusual problems, working with the general public, smiling for the cameras and crew whilst still remaining calm under pressure, focussed on the build and mindful of Health and Safety would be a tall order – but what a challenge!

Knowing that the build would generate a huge amount of interest from fans of James May, Lego and Top Gear we knew the production company would be inundated with enquiries and up against a tight deadline with a limited budget. So we made contact and offered our services.

Recognising the importance of protecting the integrity of James May et al we provided a Response Handling Service together with Candidate Briefing and Pre-Selection Vetting. How candidates applications were treated would be a direct reflection on the public perception of the James May brand.

We had in excess of 700 individual enquiries, all were acknowledged and applicants were briefed regarding the Requirements of the Role, The Selection Process and estimated timescales involved.

We reviewed over 400 CVs and covering letter. Never was the covering letter so important, people managed to express their genuine enthusiasm for the project incredibly well and of course there was no shortage of humour.

Almost 200 people were pre screened and finally 27 applicants were submitted to the production company for telephone interview and subsequent screen tests.

Our aim was to do what we do best – identify technical skill, experience and personality fit that would most suit the needs of the client. The production company, confident that the candidates were all capable of meeting the challenge simply had to choose the person they felt would best complement their team.

DATS completed the project successfully, within the agreed 3 week deadline and well within budget.

James May’s Toy Stories series starts on BBC 2 October 27th and the series sees James building amongst other things a Meccano Bridge, an Airfix Spitfire and a Plasticine Garden.

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