The Royal Mail says it is “very confident” that negative comments made about its in-house agency Angard Staffing Solutions represent the views of “a very small minority”.

The Royal Mail is using the new agency, Angard Staffing Solutions, to manage recruitment of the Royal Mail’s 18,000-strong temporary Christmas workforce.

And in response to a story about the agency published on recruiter.co.uk on 29 September, recruiter.co.uk received over 30 comments - many of which have not been published - from disgruntled candidates.

Typical comments about the agency suggested candidates had not been able to book time slots for interviews, been “waiting nearly four weeks” and had found “no closing date” and “no contact details”. One comment branded Angard “totally unprofessional”, while another wrote “avoid them like the plague”.

After Recruiter advised the Royal Mail of the comments, a Royal Mail spokesperson told the magazine: “We are, of course, very sorry if anyone feels the recruitment process has not meet the high standards Royal Mail always seek to achieve – but we are very confident that would be the view of a very small minority.

“Our approach is to treat all applicants fairly and with respect – and that includes ensuring they get an answer to their inquiries, including when their application has been unsuccessful.

“We have had a tremendous response to the 18,000 temporary roles Royal Mail is seeking to fill this Christmas with around 95,000 applications to date.

“The recruitment campaign is progressing well, although we are still seeking applicants in certain areas, including Peterborough and Bristol.”

In September, Communication Workers Union deputy general secretary Dave Ward claimed that the Royal Mail’s launch of Angard was “a deliberate attempt to get around the AWR [Agency Workers Regulations]”. The Royal Mail refuted this claim, describing it as “nonsense”.