Agency costs reduced as Irwell Valley Homes embraces IRIS Recruitment

Located in Salford, Irwell Valley Homes is a charitable provider of social housing and services to more than 20,000 people across Greater Manchester. They use IRIS Recruitment Services to optimise their hiring process, helping them attract and retain the right talent to support their mission of providing safe, affordable housing and enabling people to live well in their homes and communities.

IRIS Recruitment Services – a consistent choice

Nisha Bolt, People Business Partner at Irwell Valley Homes, says that IRIS Recruitment Services has remained their preferred provider through multiple reviews. “We’ve done reviews of the market since I’ve been here to look at other providers or in-house options. We felt IRIS Recruitment Services was reliable and we were able to configure the system to meet our needs,” she explains.

One of the standout features for Irwell Valley Homes is the onboarding platform. “As a new starter, first impression is key, and having all the relevant information on their onboarding platform really helps that new starter experience,” says Nisha. For an organisation driven by people-centric values, creating a smooth, welcoming start for new employees is essential – and IRIS Recruitment Services helps deliver just that.

Beyond technology, Nisha highlights the customer service as a key benefit: “We’ve had consistently great service from our account manager and others within the support team have always been fantastic.” The responsive support team and strong relationship with account management have created a dependable partnership that adapts to their evolving needs.

Efficiency through automation

Irwell Valley Homes recruits approximately 60–80 employees each year through IRIS Recruitment Services. Over time, the platform has helped reduce reliance on costly agency support and save valuable administrative time. “Our agency fees are much lower, and we only use agencies now to cover short-term roles or those we’ve been unable to recruit for with IRIS Recruitment Services,” Nisha notes. “We also have our onboarding platform set up so that we spend less admin time informing relevant departments of new starters, emailing Occupational Health, chasing for references or signed documentation – it’s all in the system set up as auto emails, which is a big time saver.”

A trusted partner in recruitment

For other organisations considering IRIS Recruitment Services, Nisha is clear in her recommendation: “I’d encourage them to do so. The system really can be integrated with your needs in mind, and the customer service we’ve got has always been consistent and reliable.” She adds, “We’ve always been able to rely on IRIS Recruitment Services to ask for trends and advice on certain roles too, which has always been really helpful.”

As Irwell Valley Homes continues to serve its communities across Greater Manchester, IRIS Recruitment Services remains a trusted recruitment partner, delivering reliable technology, excellent support, and measurable efficiencies that help the team focus on what matters most.

A powerful, flexible platform for end-to-end recruitment

IRIS Recruitment Services is a comprehensive recruitment platform designed to simplify the entire hiring process. From managing job postings and applications to automating onboarding and compliance checks, the system offers configurable workflows that adapt to different organisational needs. Its intuitive interface and powerful automation reduce administrative burdens, helping HR teams like Irwell Valley Homes’ save time and cut costs, while improving the candidate experience. With dedicated support from account managers and technical teams, IRIS Recruitment Services empowers businesses to attract, engage, and retain the right talent effectively and efficiently.

Read the full case study here.