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Home > Case Studies > Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Case Study | Background Screening with Matrix Security Watchdog
Organisations operating at global scale face increasing pressure to ensure workforce compliance, robust background screening and efficient onboarding. This case study explores how Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield partnered with Matrix Security Watchdog to modernise its background screening processes, integrate with existing HR systems and support international hiring while improving speed, efficiency and confidence in hiring decisions.
URW are Europe’s largest commercial real estate company, operating premium shopping centres in major metropolitan areas and thriving urban hubs globally. Their extensive portfolio includes 41 centres under the iconic Westfield brand. With 900 million customers every year, URW’s assets create lasting economic opportunity and social connection across the communities where they operate.
Faced with year-on-year price increases, a screening system that couldn’t integrate with workflows or operate beyond UK borders, and technology that had fallen behind modern standards, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) recognised an opportunity to transform their entire approach to screening. This led to a partnership with Matrix Security Watchdog that would deliver the cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and the modern capabilities needed to support URW’s expansion across markets. Since April 2025, Matrix Security Watchdog has been supporting URW to streamline their screening operations, delivering genuine value and providing a foundation for growth. Matrix Security Watchdog’s combination of smart automation and specialist human oversight ensures a standardised background screening approach, maintains compliance, and gives URW confidence that all individuals joining the company meet the required standards.
URW were facing year-on-year price increases, eroding their budget sustainability and leading to a financially unviable partnership with their previous provider
Because the former screening solution didn’t integrate with URW’s existing system, the technology was incompatible with daily working patterns. This meant manual workarounds were required, slowing team productivity
UK-only functionality was restricting international operations. URW were forced to engage multiple suppliers to cover different markets, adding complexity and cost to manage fragmented solutions
Outdated systems were failing to meet evolving business requirements. With a lack of modern capabilities and features, the technology gap was widening as organisational needs advanced
URW’s previous solution no longer aligned with their growth trajectory. The inflexible system was unable to scale with expanding operations, causing barriers to cross-border business development
Following a structured tender process, Matrix Security Watchdog were selected from a shortlist of three suppliers, having demonstrated alignment with URW’s growing needs:
Matrix Security Watchdog’s contemporary interface and accessible system has accelerated team adoption and reduced training time whilst offering an enhanced candidate experience
“The overall look and feel of the system is far more modern and user-friendly, making it easier for our team and candidates to adopt.” – Jess Gates, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager for UK & Europe
Matrix Security Watchdog’s solution has embedded seamlessly with URW’s Workday iteration, eliminating workflow disruption and maintaining operational continuity
A single solution now supports numerous markets, reducing the need for multiple suppliers and fragmented systems. This gives URW confidence to scale globally without technological barriers
“The ability to operate consistently across four countries has given us greater control and visibility, ensuring alignment and compliance across the business.” – Jess Gates, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager for UK & Europe
The technology is built to evolve alongside business expansion, making Matrix Security Watchdog a partner that is positioned to enable long-term ambitions, as well as solve immediate challenges
The modern, intuitive interface has accelerated pre-employment screening workflows, enabling faster completion times and reducing the learning curve for new team members. By embedding directly into Workday, the solution has eliminated time-consuming manual data transfers between systems, freeing up valuable time and resources, enabling staff to focus on strategic priorities rather than administrative tasks
“We have already seen improvements in efficiency, particularly with everything consolidated in one place, which has streamlined our processes and reduced duplication of effort” – Jess Gates, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager for UK & Europe
Candidates now navigate a smoother, more professional screening journey that reflects URW’s commitment to excellence. It strengthens their ability to attract and retain top talent in competitive markets
With Matrix Security Watchdog’s platform, screening has been transformed from a multi-system process into a seamless operation. Real-time data flows between the screening platform and Workday, eliminating manual intervention and the errors that often accompany it. Teams can now trust that data is current, complete, and consistently managed across the entire screening lifecycle.
By consolidating what would have required multiple suppliers into a single European-wide solution, the URW have eliminated supplier management complexity and reduced operational overhead. This has resulted in budget certainty that was previously lacking and a better ROI
Matrix Security Watchdog’s solution has removed technology as a blocker to growth, enabling URW to expand with confidence, knowing their screening infrastructure can scale seamlessly without additional suppliers or systems
“The system’s capability to scale and operate effectively across Europe has given us the confidence that it could support our wider business needs.” – Jess Gates, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager for UK & Europe
Standardised processes ensure consistent compliance across all markets, while automated workflows reduced the potential for human error in data handling
The partnership between URW and Matrix Security Watchdog represents not just a solution for today, but a platform for ongoing evolution. As screening technology advances, URW is positioned to benefit from continuous feature enhancements, now compliance capabilities, and emerging best practices without the disruptive system changes that characterised their previous supplier.
“We’re happy with the service and platform and feel is meets our needs effectively.” – Jess Gates, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager for UK & Europe
Matrix Security Watchdog has brought stability to URW’s screening processes. The platform has been embraced across URW teams, while seamless Workday HR system integration has eliminated friction and administrative burden from daily workflows. Not only have today’s challenges been solved, but URW now have a future-ready foundation that will evolve alongside the business, positioning screening as a competitive advantage rather than an operational necessity.
Learn more about how Matrix Security Watchdog supports organisations with scalable pre-employment screening and workforce verifications.
