Ainscough Cranes enjoy 3X more quality applicants with Cezanne Recruitment
TLWR: How one of the UK’s biggest crane companies streamlined hiring for niche roles (without the heavy lifting)
Ainscough, the UK’s leading crane hire company, transformed its hiring process by switching from outdated recruitment software to Cezanne Recruitment’s* modern applicant tracking system (ATS). The results? A 364% increase in applicants, 3X more high-quality candidates, and a 12-day reduction in time-to-hire for hard-to-fill roles. By automating manual tasks and centralising communication, Ainscough’s HR team now hires faster, smarter, and with far less hassle.
The Challenge:
Outdated software. Poor UX. Too many clicks. Not enough candidates.
Before switching to Cezanne Recruitment software, Ainscough was grappling with a sluggish legacy ATS that felt more like an anchor than a recruitment tool. It was slow, clunky, and filled with bells and whistles no one ever used… unless you count frustration as a feature.
The problems?
- Manual job posting on every board (yes, manually… this wasn’t 2003!)
- A painful UI experience for both recruiters and candidates
- Weak market visibility
- Low volumes of (often low-quality) applicants
- Time-to-hire hovering between 26 and 44 days for key roles
Ainscough needed a hiring solution that could actually keep up with its hiring needs – especially for those hard-to-fill, safety-critical roles.
The Solution
Enter Cezanne Recruitment: simple, smart and built to make things easy.
When Alex Rose joined Ainscough as TA Business Partner, he inherited EBOS ATS – a clunky system that made even simple changes a headache. With no built-in job board integrations, every advert had to be posted manually, and extra fees piled up for each platform used. Efficiency? Not exactly part of the package. As he explains:
“I’ve used alot of ATS systems throughout my career and many of them are so complicated, you get all the bells and whistles, which for many HR teams are simply too many. In practice, you only use the same go-to features in your day-to-day.”
To solve this issue, Cezanne’s recruitment software gave Ainscough a centralised hub for everything they needed, including:
- Candidate comms
- Internal hiring feedback
- Drag-and-drop pipelines
- Automated, personalised email templates
- One-click interview invitations
Everything hiring-related at Ainscough – from candidate applications and communications to internal feedback – is managed centrally within Cezanne Recruitment. With input from hiring managers and HR teams all captured in one place, shortlisting and interview decisions are faster and more straightforward.
Customisable, automated emails keep candidates updated without the admin overload, and moving people through the process takes just a click. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for the whole team to manage candidates, no matter how tech-savvy they are.
In short? Ainscough got a system that supports a more streamlined process that’s easy for the whole team to use; whether they’re seasoned recruiters or total tech-phobes. Alex is pretty pleased with the results, too, saying: “The pricing offers good value for money, I’ve yet to come across a system that offers more features at that price point, so the fact that I’m not spending a ton of money on it is a beautiful thing.”
The Results
Better applicants. Faster hiring. More time back!
- Time-to-hire cut in half: down from 26–44 days to under 2 weeks
- Applicant volumes tripled for niche roles
- Higher-quality candidates now hitting inboxes
* Previously called Occupop