[ NEW ]The Oyster 2026 Property & Public Sector Salary Guide is out now READ IT →
Register Sign in
INFO@OYSTERPARTNERSHIP.COM · +44 20 7555 3333
HOME  /  EMPLOYERS  /  CASE STUDIES
[ 08_MISSION DEBRIEFS ]

Case studies

Real briefs, real deadlines, real outcomes. What it looks like when a specialist practice takes on a hard resourcing problem, told in the numbers.

Regeneration site
[ CASE FILE 01: DECLASSIFIED ]
Housing & Asset ManagementFeatured

Building a new regeneration team in eight weeks

CLIENT: LONDON BOROUGH

A flagship estate regeneration programme with a fixed funding deadline and no delivery team. We sourced permanent and interim talent simultaneously, programme lead first, then the team shaped around them.

8
WEEKS TO FULL TEAM
14
ROLES FILLED
100%
RETENTION AT 12 MONTHS
Finance & AccountancyFILE 02
An interim Section 151 officer in five days
CLIENT: DISTRICT COUNCIL

A sudden departure left the council without its statutory finance officer weeks before budget setting. Our finance practice placed a proven interim from a warm network, no advert, no gap.

5
DAYS TO START
3
CANDIDATES SHORTLISTED
9
MONTH ASSIGNMENT
VIEW PRACTICE →
Environmental Health & Public ProtectionFILE 03
Standing up an EHO surge team for a food safety backlog
CLIENT: METROPOLITAN BOROUGH

Post-pandemic inspection backlogs put the borough at regulatory risk. We assembled a six-strong contractor team with food safety specialisms inside three weeks.

6
CONTRACT EHOs PLACED
1,400
INSPECTIONS CLEARED
4
MONTHS TO CLEAR BACKLOG
VIEW PRACTICE →
Building Consultancy & Project DeliveryFILE 04
A building safety team from a standing start
CLIENT: HOUSING ASSOCIATION

The Building Safety Act created roles that barely existed in the market. We mapped adjacent skill sets, fire engineering, surveying, compliance, and built the team the regulator expected.

11
SPECIALISTS PLACED
40+
HIGH-RISE BLOCKS COVERED
0
MISSED BSR DEADLINES
VIEW PRACTICE →
Residential Operations (PBSA & BTR)FILE 05
Mobilising operations for a 2,000-bed PBSA portfolio
CLIENT: NATIONAL OPERATOR

A new purpose-built student accommodation portfolio needed city teams before the September intake. Perm and temp, one brief, four cities, delivered for opening day.

23
HIRES ACROSS 4 CITIES
6
WEEKS TO MOBILISE
97%
OCCUPANCY AT OPENING
VIEW PRACTICE →
Planning, Development & RegenerationFILE 06
Halving a development management backlog in a quarter
CLIENT: UNITARY AUTHORITY

Application backlogs were threatening designation. A blended team of contract development management officers cleared the queue while we ran the permanent campaign behind it.

5
PLANNERS PLACED
52%
BACKLOG REDUCTION
13
WEEKS
VIEW PRACTICE →
[ HOW WE MEASURE ]

Outcomes, not activity

T−0
Time to shortlist

Measured from brief sign-off, not first advert. Median across all practices: 8 working days.

12MO
Retention at a year

A placement that leaves in month three didn't work. We track every placement through the first year.

1:3.2
Interviews per hire

Short shortlists that convert. If you're interviewing ten people per seat, the brief was wrong.

[ YOUR TURN ]

Got a hard brief? Good.

The difficult ones are the ones worth writing up.