Wallenborn case study: specialist wide-load HGV driver hiring for aerospace transport

The challenge

Wallenborn is a large, specialist European logistics business operating complex, high-value transport across the UK and Europe. For a Derby-based initiative, Wallenborn needed to hire experienced Class 1 HGV drivers for a highly specialist role: abnormal/wide loads, aerospace cargo (including aircraft engines), and multi-day European routes.

This isn’t a typical driver vacancy. The job demands specific experience, a strong safety mindset, and candidates who are genuinely comfortable with tramping and being away from home for several days at a time. It’s also physically demanding, making expectation-setting and candidate fit essential to reduce early drop-off and churn.

Before McRoberts, Wallenborn faced two common problems for specialist roles:

• Not enough candidates with the right niche experience
• Too many applicants who looked suitable at first glance but didn’t meet the specialist criteria or lifestyle requirements

​

What success looked like

Success meant building a recruitment approach that could deliver:

• Drivers with the right specialist background (wide load + aerospace/high-value transport)
• A pipeline of candidates who understand the reality of tramping across Europe
• Faster hiring without compromising standards
• A lower cost per hire than traditional approaches
• Candidates more likely to stay long-term due to better fit and expectations

​

Our approach

McRoberts treated this as a specialist attraction-and-filtering problem. The priority was quality, not raw applicant volume. We built a role-specific proposition that would appeal to the right type of driver, and just as importantly, encourage wrong-fit candidates to opt out early.

The funnel was designed to do three things:

1. Attract experienced drivers interested in specialist, high-responsibility work
2. Set expectations clearly about the lifestyle and physical nature of the role
3. Screen hard for the non-negotiables before the client invested interview time

​

What we delivered

To support Wallenborn’s UK initiative and deliver high-quality hires quickly, McRoberts implemented a full recruitment engine:

1) Role-specific EVP and messaging

 We met drivers and built a clear employer value proposition tailored to the role—highlighting what makes the work appealing to the right candidates while being transparent about the realities (European tramping, demanding work, specialist expectations).

2) Credibility-building content (photos + quotes + testimonials)

 We captured original imagery and real driver quotes to build trust and help candidates understand the role. This reduced uncertainty, improved conversion, and helped candidates self-select more accurately.

3) Multi-channel attraction across the right platforms

 We ran campaigns across search engines, social media and job boards, reaching experienced drivers actively looking and those open to moving into more specialist work.

4) High-converting landing pages

 Candidates were directed to landing pages with rich content—including the proposition, testimonials, and proof—designed to convert the right candidates while filtering out the wrong fit through clear expectations.

5) Strict screening for specialist criteria and lifestyle fit

 We screened candidates against Wallenborn’s requirements before they progressed, including:

• Experience in aerospace/high-value transport
• Wide-load / abnormal load exposure
• Willingness and readiness to tramp across Europe
• Comfort with the physical demands of the job

6) Automated re-engagement

 Candidates who dropped out were re-engaged through automated email, helping recover strong applicants without increasing manual workload.

7) Free ATS to manage hiring end-to-end

 We provided the McRoberts free ATS so Wallenborn could manage candidates smoothly through the hiring process—even without an existing system—improving visibility, speed, and consistency.

​

Results

Wallenborn secured strong outcomes quickly. In the first month, McRoberts delivered three high-quality specialist driver hires, meeting strict criteria for experience and role fit. The programme also achieved an extremely efficient cost per hire and demonstrated a more reliable way to recruit for specialist HGV roles across the UK and Europe.

Beyond the immediate hires, the partnership changed how Wallenborn approached driver recruitment—shifting from generic sourcing to a repeatable system built around targeted attraction, clear expectations, and rigorous screening.

​

Why it worked

This campaign succeeded because it focused on the fundamentals that matter most in specialist hiring:

• Clear role positioning to attract the right drivers
• Credible proof through real images and driver quotes
• Non-negotiable screening to protect quality and reduce wasted interviews
• Expectation-setting to reduce lifestyle-related drop-off and churn risk
• A structured ATS process to keep the pipeline moving quickly

​

What this enabled next

With a predictable specialist hiring engine, Wallenborn could scale recruitment for similar niche roles across the UK and Europe, reduce reliance on expensive alternatives, and hire drivers who are more likely to perform and stay long-term.