Scaling Candidate Attraction for World Duty Free Across Major UK Airports
Careers website | Recruitment marketing | Airport retail hiring10,000 monthly careers site visits | 5,000 applications generated | Top 5 Google rankings for major UK airport job searches
The Client
World Duty Free operates retail stores across major UK airports, serving millions of international travellers every year. From beauty and fragrance to premium spirits and luxury goods, the brand is a familiar presence in airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.
Marketing4Talent has worked with ResourceBank for many years as part of a wider fractional marketing partnership, supporting recruitment marketing strategy, campaigns and digital projects across their client portfolio.
This project involved working alongside ResourceBank to strengthen the careers experience for World Duty Free, helping the organisation attract candidates at scale across multiple airport locations.
The Challenge
World Duty Free hires at scale across some of the busiest airports in the UK, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.
Airport retail operates at a very different pace to traditional retail environments. Roles are fast moving, highly customer-focused and require people who can thrive in a busy international setting.
However, the existing careers experience didn’t clearly reflect the reality of working in airport retail. Candidates often found it difficult to quickly understand:
the environment they would be working in
the range of roles across stores and operations
what the recruitment process involved
what makes working in airport retail different from traditional retail roles
There was an opportunity to improve how opportunities were presented and attract candidates who better understood the environment before applying.
A careers site is often the first place candidates experience an employer brand. As we explore in our guide to careers websites that attract candidates, the structure, content and candidate journey play a critical role in helping people understand what working in an organisation will actually feel like.
For ResourceBank and World Duty Free, the goal was to create a careers experience designed to support high-volume hiring while helping candidates quickly find and understand relevant opportunities.
Our Approach
Working in partnership with ResourceBank, we redesigned the careers experience to better reflect the scale, pace and energy of working across major UK airports.
The focus was on helping candidates quickly understand the environment, explore relevant roles and move smoothly through the application journey.
Bringing the airport retail environment to life
Video became central to the careers experience, helping candidates see what working in airport retail actually looks like.
By showcasing the store environment, teams and day-to-day roles, the site helped candidates build a realistic picture of the job before applying.
This improves attraction by helping candidates self-select — encouraging applications from people who are genuinely suited to the pace and energy of airport retail.
Location-led candidate journeys
The new careers website was designed around airport locations, helping candidates quickly navigate to opportunities at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.
Location-led, SEO-driven pages were developed for each airport location, making it easier for candidates searching online for airport jobs to discover relevant opportunities.
This approach strengthened visibility for airport-related job searches while helping candidates understand where they would be working.
A clearer and simpler candidate journey
The structure of the site was redesigned to make it easier for candidates to explore departments, understand benefits and see how the recruitment process works.
Navigation was simplified and the application journey integrated with the organisation’s CRM, creating a smoother experience for candidates while supporting recruitment teams managing high volumes of applications.
The Impact
The result is a careers experience designed specifically for large-scale recruitment across multiple airport locations.
Candidates can now more easily understand the roles, the environment and the expectations before applying, helping improve both application quality and recruitment efficiency.
Results include:
• 10,000 careers site visits per month
• 5,000 applications generated
• Top 5 Google rankings for major UK airport job searches
• Improved candidate understanding before applying
What this case demonstrates
For organisations hiring at scale, the careers experience matters.
The employers that stand out make it easy for candidates to quickly understand the role, the environment and what working there will actually feel like.
The World Duty Free project shows what that looks like in practice.
Not just a careers website — but a candidate attraction platform.
Not just applications — but better-informed candidates.
Exploring a similar challenge?
This is the kind of approach we help organisations build through careers websites, recruitment marketing and candidate attraction strategy.
Project summary
Client: ResourceBank
End client: World Duty Free
Industry: Travel retail / airport retail
Focus: Careers website design, recruitment marketing and candidate attraction
Key elements delivered
• Location-led careers website structure for all UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester
• SEO landing pages targeting airport retail job searches
• Video-led content showcasing the airport retail environment
• Simplified candidate journey and application process
• CRM integration to support high-volume hiring