About

ResQ is an award-winning BPO contact centre specialist that helps leading brands deliver exceptional customer experiences. Founded in 2006, the company operates from modern centers in Hull, Seaham, and South Africa, alongside a strong remote working setup that provides flexibility and scale.

ResQ works with clients across various sectors, including energy and utilities, telecommunications, financial services, and retail. Its teams manage a wide range of services, from customer service and sales to retention and compliance.

The company combines skilled people, smart processes, and proprietary technology such as its in-house iQ solution and the ResQ Anywhere remote agent platform to deliver results. A strong people-first culture and rigorous compliance standards have supported rapid growth, including a 160% increase in turnover over a three-year period and the creation of more than 700 jobs in Hull alone.

ResQ has received multiple industry awards, including Business of the Year, Health & Wellbeing, and Colleague Engagement, as well as a 3-Star Best Companies accreditation.

Leading the resource planning function is Ben Heslop, Director of Resource Planning, who has been with ResQ for three years and brings 19 years of experience in contact centre planning. His team is responsible for managing outbound campaign strategy and ensuring that client headcount requirements are met across the organization.

Adapting to a growing operation

ResQ had been using the Peopleware AI-native WFM platform for a number of years and had seen significant improvements in its workforce management processes compared to its previous ways of working. With greater visibility and control over the day-to-day activities, ResQ was able to scale the business more effectively and support growth across its operations.

This was particularly evident in ResQ’s shift toward inbound work. In 2022, inbound campaigns at ResQ made up around 30% of the business. By 2025, this number had already grown to 60%, with a plan to conclude 2026 with 80% to 90% inbound work.

The enhancements offered by Peopleware gave ResQ the foundation to expand its inbound offering and take on more complex, commercially demanding work. But as demand became more dynamic and planning complexity increased, so did the pressure on the planning team. 

New challenges began to emerge.

Navigating a unique planning challenge

Most contact centers plan using call volumes and average handle times (AHT), but ResQ couldn't. As an outsourcer, ResQ does not have a conventional planning team and is therefore not able to utilise a WFM platform in a conventional way.

Instead of traditional forecasting data, they receive headcount requirements directly from their clients in 15-minute intervals and are commercially measured against these requirements. Without demand forecasts and handling times to put into the system for scheduling, their planners were forced to create shifts manually outside of Peopleware and struggled to optimize these shifts due to limited flexibility.

This was a time-consuming process that simply couldn't keep pace with volatile headcount targets and ResQ’s unconventional, fast-paced forecasting requirements, exposing operations to inefficiencies and planners to burnout.

The challenge was compounded by the nature of the organization. As an outsourcer, they had to schedule regular mandatory training sessions for more than 900 advisors while ensuring strict client headcount requirements were met.

Unable to fully leverage Peopleware's automation capabilities, planners spent days creating schedules, adjusting rotations, managing breaks, and coordinating training sessions. This high level of manual repetitive workload led to dissatisfaction and a degree of disengagement within the resource planning function.

“Our team was always in firefighting mode. Even with days of scheduling efforts, failing to achieve optimal shifts, the inability to react in real-time, and the desire to contribute more strategically to the business, led directly to team dissatisfaction and frustration.”

— Ben Heslop

Despite these operational bottlenecks, ResQ never viewed Peopleware as a limitation. They understood that the gap wasn’t the platform itself, but in how it could be adapted to support a fundamentally different planning function. So rather than looking elsewhere, Ben turned to Tom De Luca, Customer Success Manager at Peopleware, to explore potential solutions.

Finding a solution together

Ben had already built a close working relationship with Tom. They had ongoing conversations about the challenges ResQ’s planning function faced, and it was through these discussions that the idea of the Requirements Importer Tool emerged.

“Our transformation started with the launch of Peopleware’s customised Requirements Importer Tool. Powered by API integrations, this solution enabled us to bulk upload interval demand profiles every 15–30 minutes, a massive leap from our previous manual processes.”

—Ben Heslop

Instead of forcing ResQ’s model into a traditional WFM structure, Peopleware’s team worked collaboratively with ResQ to adapt the system in a way that supports its headcount-driven approach. The new tool allowed ResQ to directly upload its headcount requirements into Peopleware, enabling access to automation capabilities that were previously out-of-reach.

This automation eliminated the need for manual data entry, drastically reducing both the time required and the risk of costly input errors. Unlike traditional forecasts, this approach addressed the need for real-time headcount adjustments, tailored to ResQ’s specialized process requirements. As a result, the planning team became faster and more efficient with significantly fewer operational challenges for the teams.​

A rapid transformation: From months to weeks

Introducing the importer tool was only the first step. Just as important was how quickly ResQ’s planning team was able to adapt to a completely new way of working.

From start to finish, the implementation of the tool took about two weeks. With the support of Peopleware’s expert team, who are planning professionals themselves, what could have become a complex technology project lasting several months instead became a much smoother and faster transition.

“Working in resource planning for approximately 19 years, across multiple vendors over that time, it's refreshing and quite surprising to work with a vendor that feels like you're working with someone within your business.”

— Ben Heslop

Peopleware’s experts worked closely with ResQ to configure the system in a way that the planners could begin using it immediately. Alongside the technical implementation, Peopleware provided hands-on support and training to ensure ResQ could confidently use the new importer tool and the automation capabilities that it unlocked.

For Ben and his team, the speed of implementation and the support offered reflected the collaborative relationship between ResQ and Peopleware. The transition felt less like implementing a new tool and more like strengthening the planning function through a collaborative partnership.

Value and achievements

“Straight away, we were able to schedule regulatory training for all advisors in about an hour and a half, something that would normally take three to four days. That’s been phenomenal for the team.”

— Ben Heslop

Business Benefits

With the Requirements Importer Tool in place, ResQ unlocked a new level of efficiency and scalability.

One of the most immediate impacts it had was on productivity. On ResQ’s largest campaign, the planner-to-RTA ratio improved from 1:150 to 1:200. This enabled the team to absorb two additional campaigns without increasing the size of the planning function, delivering £60,000 in annual savings.

Meanwhile, the significant improvement in their planning accuracy led to a reduction in average monthly hours above billable, from 1,300 to 450. The figure continues to decline, reflecting improved alignment between staffing levels and demand.

The stronger planning capability has also supported business growth. In Seaham, ResQ was able to win a new client with very tight commercial constraints. What started as a three-month trial at 55 FTE turned into an agreed 88 FTE within 2 months.

“We've just won a recent client that has very strict commercials around a 15-minute period delivery. Working with Peopleware has freed up resources to take on this client without increasing the team size. So it's a massive win from the team morale perspective.”

— Ben Heslop

Employee Benefits

The new way of working opened a wide range of possibilities for the planning function. With automation now handling much of the scheduling process, ResQ’s planners were freed from repetitive manual work. They could now focus on higher-value activities, such as identifying opportunities to offer greater flexibility to their frontline advisors and improving work-life balance.

The improvements extended well beyond the planning team. ResQ’s frontline agents now receive more effective schedules five weeks earlier with fewer changes required within this time to deliver required headcounts, and can view changes to their schedules directly within Peopleware Me, the Peopleware agent self-service portal. This provides greater visibility into upcoming shifts and rotations and makes it easier to plan personal commitments.

Team leaders have also benefited from the improved visibility of training sessions, shift rotations, and breaks, helping them manage their schedules more effectively. This is reflected in ResQ’s Great Place to Work results, where the score for “I am given the tools to do my job” increased by 9%, jumping from 91% to 100%.

Looking ahead

The partnership between ResQ and Peopleware continues to evolve as both teams explore new ways to enhance workforce planning.

“As we look at what the future holds for the planning team at ResQ, and what it holds for both ResQ and Peopleware, it's an exciting time for us. We're already well on with what next, what next, what next.”

— Ben Heslop

ResQ’s story reflects a challenge many outsourcers face: balancing complex client requirements with the need to run efficient, scalable operations.

This case shows what’s possible when a partner doesn’t just provide technology, but works collaboratively to make it fit. By working closely together, listening carefully, and configuring the system to align with how ResQ operates, Peopleware helped transform their primary constraint into an opportunity.

As ResQ continues to grow its client base, the innovative planning approach developed in collaboration with Peopleware is becoming a key part of how the organization delivers scalable, high-quality service.