Trade-in company Mazuma Mobile is aiming to add up to 50 new members of staff over the next nine months.
This bullish estimate comes from managing director Craig Smith, after Mazuma added laptops and games consoles to its processing portfolio this week.
Mazuma has supported the new products with a £100,000 TV advertising campaign that began on July 1.
Speaking to Mobile News, Smith said: “Mazuma will create 20 jobs initially, but it’s already been a success, so if it keeps going well I don’t see why we wouldn’t create another 50 jobs over the next nine months.”
Recruitment will happen across different parts of the business, as Smith looks to push Mazuma’s headcount past 100. “We’ve invested in marketing because we need to strengthen there, and across operations and the website,” he said. “There are jobs across the board, not just in the warehouse.”
The incorporation of laptops and consoles involved warehouse extensions and a change to back-end processes. Smith was able to use the expertise of reverse logistics firm ICTReverse, which shares Mazuma’s Morecambe warehouse under parent company EcoRenew.
EcoRenew claims to be the largest private employer in the Morecambe and Lancaster area, with 163 people working at Mazuma, ICTReverse and repair firm iMend at last count.
Mazuma’s advertising campaign is its first since last Autumn, when it sponsored the Channel 4 program The Circle.
Smith has also said that commercial performance during lockdown was better than anticipated. All possible staff who were able moved to home-working. Warehouse staff took split shifts, were provided with PPE and implemented device cleaning processes.
“We made our own assumptions of what we thought it would be like, but have probably fared a bit better. With other retailers being closed, that closes a door to where trading can go.
“We certainly don’t want to be rejoicing in the time of Covid, but we can only deal with what’s in front of us, and volumes went up. That’s a combination of people being at home more so they’ve got more time to look on our site, but there are also fewer avenues to trade in with some retailers being closed.”
