SmartPA: Powering Recruitment Success for Cleeve Partnership

Natasha Cleeve is a recruitment expert and the founder of Cleeve Partnership.

After thirty years of recruiting across a broad range of industries, Natasha founded Cleeve Partnership to ensure that her passion for the human touch within the recruitment process is not lost amongst the ever-increasing advance of technology.

At Cleeve Partnership Natasha strives to bring together individuals and organisations who share the same values and culture and will be a perfect fit to achieve success.

How did you hear about SmartPA?

Tracy was recommended to me by a gentleman who was doing some consultancy work for me.

At the time, I was in the process of moving offices from Reading to Hungerford. Due to the change of location, my previous PA had resigned – very suddenly and unexpectedly. It was a total nightmare! I had spent a lot of time training her and was concerned that, going forward, I would struggle to afford the salary for the calibre of PA I really needed.

Tracy and her team stepped in and saved the day!

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What does SmartPA do for you?

Initially, Tracy found me a replacement PA – Velia – who had previous recruitment experience … and she was so utterly remarkable and capable that she was the perfect fit for the business. So perfect, in fact, that after a couple of months I wanted to start using her in the commercial side of the business rather than ‘just’ as my PA. How much better an illustration could there be for Tracy finding me the perfect person? Tracy bringing Velia into my business was completely transformational and I cannot imagine life without Velia as part of my team.

Now that I wanted to use Velia’s skillset in a different way, Tracy immediately found me another PA, Andrea, who has been in that role for about 9 months and has proved herself incredibly capable and utterly indispensable.

Velia was also able to advise where we could use further support, and since then Tracy has provided me with a steady stream of SmartPAs. Of particular note is the fact that we have Fay, who is basically like my Finance Director — she handles all my bookkeeping and ALL the back-office finance. ?

We also have a few others who are more taken on in a more flexible manner — we get them on board as and when required. One VA worked on our website, another did a project to identify and research fellow attendees for a conference, and then we had another for holiday cover when Andrea was away.

They have all been exceptional. The name SmartPA doesn’t really cover it, they can provide so much more than being ‘just’ PAs. I love the qualification and the rigour around the process that is implemented before they become a SmartPA. They undertake quite a distinctive assessment and training process and are very, very professional.

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Has your SmartPA experience been different to what you expected?

It has exceeded my expectations considerably. I initially thought they were a small group of people that offered virtual assistant services. They are anything but! SmartPA can offer so much more!

Tracy has access to a team with a vast breadth of services — and at such a level of competence and capability — it is amazing to be able to harness those talents in such an agile way.

I liken their support to an army — your troops march along beside you and then they can just peel off when their bit is done, then the next battalion comes in and does what’s needed and you just keep moving forward. There is nothing to stop you now!

Tracy is uber-efficient and competent, and the calibre and the quality of the VAs that she provides are better than I could have found myself … and, let's face it, I’m a recruiter!! It’s my job to find great people!

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Is there an opportunity for more follow-on work?

Absolutely! 100%! ?The alternative is employing people – which I now don’t want to do! I would be very unlikely to make another permanent hire, I simply don’t need to anymore. If you are a one-man band or, like us, a small - to medium -sized business, all the back-office stuff, support, finance, research, recruitment, can all be done through SmartPA.

Tracy is a consummate professional. It wouldn’t even occur to me to go anywhere else now. I know Tracy will provide me with all the people power I need.