City Circle case study: premium coach driver hiring without compromising standards

The challenge

City Circle is a premium coach travel brand based in West London. Their service quality depends heavily on the driver experience: not just safe driving, but professional presentation, hospitality-level customer service, and genuine pride in keeping vehicles immaculate. City Circle runs coach tours as well as contracted work for school groups and airport transport, and the brand reputation is central to repeat business and referrals.

Hiring for City Circle is deliberately selective. They only hire experienced coach drivers—not drivers with truck-only or bus-only backgrounds—and they maintain strict standards to protect customer experience and brand reputation. For tour work, drivers also need to be comfortable being away for extended periods, sometimes up to 21 days, with accommodation provided. That combination of requirements makes the candidate pool smaller and the screening burden higher.

Before partnering with McRoberts, City Circle faced a clear constraint: too few suitable candidates to meet demand without compromise. Agency cover helped fill gaps, but it carried cost and risk. The wrong hire could cause immediate reputational damage, so quality control had to remain high—even when hiring was urgent.

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What success looked like

Success wasn’t defined by application volume. It meant finding the “diamonds”: coach drivers who met City Circle’s non-negotiables, including:

• Proven coach driving experience
• Strong customer service mindset and professionalism
• Impeccable presentation standards
• Pride in maintaining a clean, tidy vehicle
• Willingness to tour and be away for extended periods (up to 21 days)

Operationally, the metrics that mattered were:

• Volume of candidates who passed screening and met criteria
• Number of hires made
• Time saved for hiring managers who were previously manually screening large volumes of unsuitable applicants

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Our approach

McRoberts built a recruitment engine designed for selective hiring. The objective was not “more candidates,” but more qualified candidates, with a process that screens hard, sets expectations early, and protects the brand.

We focused on three key principles:

1. Premium positioning that attracts the right calibre of coach driver
2. Proof-led content to build credibility and signal standards
3. Structured assessment to filter for customer service and professionalism before interview

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What we delivered

To help City Circle hire without lowering standards, McRoberts delivered an end-to-end funnel:

1) Role-specific EVP built from driver insight

 We met and interviewed drivers to understand what motivates top-tier coach professionals and what makes someone successful in this environment. We used this to build a role-specific employer value proposition aligned to City Circle’s premium standards.

2) Original content: photos, quotes and video

 We captured real imagery, quotes and video content to communicate the brand properly and build trust. For selective roles, proof matters: candidates need to see what the job is like and whether the standards match what they want.

3) Multi-channel attraction (including new channels for the client)

 We ran campaigns across search engines, social media and job boards, using specialists with 10+ years’ experience in each channel. This expanded reach beyond the client’s historic approach and brought in qualified candidates from channels they hadn’t used effectively before.

4) Proof-rich landing pages built to convert and qualify

 Candidates were directed to landing pages featuring the EVP, videos, quotes and clear role reality—designed to attract the right candidates while helping wrong-fit candidates self-select out.

5) Structured screening and expectation-setting

 Applicants moved through a screening process that included:

• Hard qualification checks (coach experience, years of experience, etc.)
• Clear expectation management (including touring requirements and up to 21 days away)
• Customer service mindset and presentation standards checks

To raise quality further, we introduced scenario-based assessments using multiple-choice questions—testing decision-making and customer service judgement before interview.

6) Automated re-engagement for drop-offs

 Candidates who dropped off the funnel were re-engaged with automated email sequences, helping recover strong prospects without adding manual workload.

7) Free ATS + self-serve interview scheduling

 We provided the McRoberts free ATS so City Circle could manage candidates end-to-end and keep the process organised. Candidates who met criteria entered the ATS and could schedule their own interview—reducing back-and-forth admin, improving attendance, and minimising wasted time from cancellations and no-shows.

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Results

City Circle gained what they needed most: a reliable pipeline of premium coach drivers who met strict service and presentation standards—without lowering the bar.

The programme delivered:

• High volumes of screened, qualified candidates
• Access to candidates from channels City Circle hadn’t used effectively before
• Reduced time spent by hiring managers screening unsuitable applicants
• A structured process that protects brand reputation while supporting growth

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Why it worked

This campaign succeeded because it treated selective recruitment as a quality engineering problem:

• Premium positioning and proof-led content attracted the right calibre
• Strict screening and scenario assessment protected standards
• Early expectation-setting reduced lifestyle-related drop-off
• Automation and ATS structure reduced admin and improved conversion

City Circle didn’t need a bigger funnel—they needed a smarter one.