HeadFirst Group strengthens its internationalisation strategy with MSP frontman Arco Elsman
Arco Elsman has been appointed as the Managing Director of MSP Services by HR tech service provider HeadFirst Group. In this role, he will have overall responsibility for the success of Staffing Management Services and ProUnity, the two international Managed Service Providers of HeadFirst Group. CEO Marion van Happen stated: "The MSP market is ready for innovation and international expansion, and with Arco we are excellently positioned to further strengthen our services in currently 15 countries and expand our horizon."
Worldwide, MSP services are known as a progressive and efficient strategy whereby organisations outsource their hiring processes to external experts, the MSPs. Elsman brings over twenty years of knowledge and experience in the outsourced HR services industry, including MSP and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). His impressive career includes leadership roles at leading organisations such as Yacht, where he held the position of Operational Director, Twago, as Managing Director of the freelance marketplace and talent pool, and had European responsibility at Randstad RiseSmart until the end of 2023.
With that fresh perspective, he is clearly ready for his new challenge: "I was looking for an organisation where customer focus, innovative entrepreneurship, and exponential growth are key. This I have found at HeadFirst Group. I look forward to leverage my experience in the human capital market to take the next step towards growth, together with the enthusiastic team."
Van Happen adds, "Arco is a perfect fit for this position not only because of his empathy and client-oriented approach, but also due to his insightful talent management and proven success in internationalisation and scaling HR tech companies. Our initial focus is on successfully serving our existing clients, adding large clients to our portfolio, and organising consultancy services. Based on this foundation, we will continue our international strategy."
Global player
HeadFirst Group recently announced that they have reached an agreement with Impellam Group to acquire Impellam. They intend to join forces to become a leading global player in MSP and talent management. The combination, with over €7 billion in revenue (managed spend, in 2022), will enable accelerated growth opportunities in Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, and APAC. The appointment of Arco Elsman as Managing Director of MSP Services aligns with this strategy.
HeadFirst Group confirms offer to acquire Impellam Group to create a market leading global workforce and STEM talent solutions provider
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HeadFirst Group (‘HeadFirst’) and Impellam Group (‘Impellam’) announce that they have reached an agreement for HeadFirst to acquire Impellam in order to bring together their strengths, to create a leading global player in MSP and mission-critical talent solutions. The combination, with over € 7 billion spend under management (in 2022), will unlock accelerated growth opportunities in North America, UK, Europe and APAC.
HeadFirst believes that Impellam represents an attractive opportunity to invest in one of the leading Managed Services Providers in the world and a leading STEM (data, life-sciences, tech & engineering) workforce and recruitment group in the UK. There is compelling strategic rationale for the combination between HeadFirst and Impellam which is expected to deliver the following benefits:
- a highly complementary geographic footprint, with limited to no overlap, creating a larger group with a strong presence across continental Europe, the UK, North America and APAC, benefiting customers with increased geographical coverage;
- allowing complementary skillsets and expertise to create substantial cross selling and customer value;
- capitalising on HeadFirst's digital data platform to increase operational and business performance further across the enlarged group;
- creating a strong combined management team that will continue to deliver on the long-term strategy of the enlarged group; and
- providing greater career opportunities for colleagues across the larger company
Julia Robertson, CEO of Impellam Group, said: “We are looking forward to joining forces with HeadFirst to create a larger, more digitally enabled, and diverse service offering with increased geographic reach. The combined strength of market leading brands, cultures and people balanced with technology of the enlarged group will enhance our proposition to solve customers’ workforce challenges in the UK, Europe, North America and APAC whilst also providing greater career opportunities for colleagues.”
Han Kolff, Chairman of HeadFirst Group, comments: "This merger will be transformational, building on the complementary strengths of Impellam and HeadFirst. Together we will become a global leader in mission-critical talent enabling us to service our customers, suppliers and professionals in an unrivalled manner. A very exciting journey ahead with ample opportunities for our teams, leveraging HR tech depth and geographic reach further and faster."
Future management for the group
HeadFirst envisages that the key executive management of Impellam, namely Julia Robertson (current Chief Executive Officer of Impellam) and Tim Briant (current Chief Financial Officer of Impellam) will join the board of directors as Group CEO and Group CFO, respectively. They will work alongside Board members Marion Van Happen, who will also continue as CEO of HeadFirst Group, Han Kolff, who will be non-executive Chairman, and non-executive Directors Koen Bekkering and Boyd Sleeman, to ensure the future success and growth of the enlarged group.
There are currently no changes to how Impellam Group and HeadFirst Group operate day to day. Impellam and HeadFirst will continue to deliver their services to customers, suppliers, and professionals. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024.
An announcement with full details of the terms and conditions of the transaction can be read in full at headfirst.group/takeover.
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading, international HR-tech service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Benelux, operating across fifteen European countries. The organisation offers a wide range of HR solutions, such as Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, IT Sourcing & Recruitment and HR consultancy. More than twenty-five thousand professionals work for over five hundred clients in Europe, through which HeadFirst Group realises an annual revenue in 2022 of over two billion euros . The main brands of HeadFirst Group are MSP (including intermediary services) labels HeadFirst, Between and Staffing Management Services, RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen, IT talent sourcer StarApple, and Belgian HR-tech company ProUnity.
About Impellam Group
Impellam is the holding company of a group of integrated, diversified workforce and STEM talent providers offering global workforce solutions, talent management and specialist recruitment across a variety of industry sectors and key end markets. Services provided by the Impellam Group's two key operating divisions are as follows: Global Managed Services ("GMS"): multi-disciplinary management of the overall talent process to provide comprehensive workforce solutions; and STEM: MSP, RPO, contract, permanent and Statement Of Work workforce solutions focused on IT and digital specialists, data experts, scientists, clinicians, and engineers. Impellam's divisions operate through multiple brands including Guidant Global and Comensura (GMS), as well as Carbon60, SRG, Lorien, and Bartech (STEM).
On 3 March 2023, Impellam completed the disposal of two previous operating divisions – Regional Specialist Staffing and Healthcare – which has allowed the Impellam Group to focus on its key GMS and STEM divisions, where the Impellam Board expects higher returns from attractive growth markets, significantly improved revenue visibility and improved conversions.
Note to editors
Do you have any questions or comments regarding this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, head of marketing & communication at HeadFirst Group, on +31(0)6 – 15 89 95 74 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl or Kirsty Tranter, global head of communications at Impellam Group, on kirstytranter@impellam.com.
Further information
This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to and does not constitute, or form any part of, an offer to sell or an invitation to purchase or subscribe for any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to the acquisition described above or otherwise. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus or a prospectus equivalent document.
Copies of this announcement and any formal documentation relating to the acquisition are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in or into or from any jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the laws of such jurisdiction and persons receiving such documents (including custodians, nominees and trustees) must not mail or otherwise forward, distribute or send them in or into or from any such jurisdiction.
Take the robot out of the human
Marijn van de Poel is Managing Director of Ciphix. This innovative company’s mission is ‘Take the robot out of the human’. “With some 60 specialists, we automate as many routine tasks and cognitive decisions for our clients as possible,” explains Marijn. “Using Hyperautomation technologies such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Process Mining and Low-Code, we develop ‘digital assistants’, so that our clients’ employees can focus on more important and more interesting aspects of their work.”
“The latter is crucial. Everyone is struggling with staff shortages nowadays, so it’s a real waste if you let well-qualified employees spend time on repetitive work. People are much happier if they can work on new challenges and customer requests. It’s what stimulates and inspires them. If people spend less time on routine jobs, the work will be fun and interesting, and they will enjoy working for you. That’s what we aim for at Ciphix.”
Balance between tech and touch
Marijn explains how this works in practice, describing the first digital assistants Ciphix introduced at HeadFirst Group. “HeadFirst Group handles tens of thousands of hiring transactions every year. A complex process involves an application, publication, matching, and finally a contract. In 2022, with the help of digital assistant Benthe, we fully automated the uploading of assignments. The process is flawless and much faster, and recruiters now have more time left for the matching process itself. It really creates a better balance between tech and touch, as they call it at HeadFirst Group.”
Streamer
“The process is flawless and much faster, and recruiters now have more time left for the matching process itself.”
Bring human into the robot
“Together with HeadFirst Group, we’re already looking ahead. For example, we’re considering ways in which AI could make faster and smarter analyses of the data in applications and CVs, supporting recruiters in terms of content. It’s just one of the possibilities, and the great thing is that HeadFirst Group is completely in the lead. Our technical solutions can help you achieve your goals, but you do need to have the mindset to want to work differently.”
“So why do we use personal names? That’s a very deliberate choice, because it helps us to make our solutions more recognisable and bring a bit of the ‘human into the robot’. New software with a techy name doesn’t mean much to most people. No one likes SAP or Office, but everyone loves Benthe!”
Marjolein Slappendel new CFO HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group, the market-leading, international HR tech solutions provider, has appointed Marjolein Slappendel as its new CFO. Marjolein succeeds Jan-Pieter van Vreeswijk, who will focus on HeadFirst Group's internationalisation and M&A strategy in his new role as finance & integration director. Marjolein will take over the management of the group's financial activities.
Perfect match
With Marjolein Slappendel, HeadFirst Group brings in a highly experienced and all-round CFO, with an impressive track record at companies including Merrill Lynch, ING, Action, and most recently as CFO of Temper. Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group: "I am delighted to welcome Marjolein. With her experience in continuous improvement and her eye for opportunities to innovate and grow, she fits perfectly into our energetic and high-performing organisation."
Marjolein: "HeadFirst Group is an ambitious and fast-growing organisation with very smart and motivated people. I am proud to be part of that. It is a wonderful challenge to be responsible for the further professionalisation of the finance, operations, quality, and legal business units to strengthen the basis for our growth ambitions even more."
Sustainable growth
HeadFirst Group has experienced major growth in recent years to become a market-leading HR tech solutions provider in the Netherlands and abroad. With an increase of €600 million compared to 2021, of which more than €400 million was organic growth, the organisation achieved a turnover of €2.2 billion in 2022.
At the end of 2022, IceLake Capital joined as a new investor in HeadFirst Group to further enable international growth. Marion: "We aim to continue to grow in 2023 through the combination of successful services to our customers - both clients, suppliers, and independent professionals - and targeted acquisitions that add value to our group. The implemented organisational changes are in line with this."
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading, international HR-tech service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Netherlands. The organisation offers a wide range of HR solutions, such as Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, IT Sourcing & Recruitment and HR consultancy. More than twenty-five thousand professionals work for over five hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realises an annual revenue of over two billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are MSP (including intermediary services) labels HeadFirst, Between and Staffing Management Services, RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen, IT talent sourcer StarApple, and Belgian HR-tech company ProUnity.
HeadFirst Group presents record revenue of € 2.2 billion
Over € 400 million organic revenue growth, gross profit of € 63 million
HR-tech service provider HeadFirst Group has achieved 2022 revenue (gross invoice value) of over EUR 2.2 billion, with a gross profit of EUR 63 million. This represents a 38% revenue growth compared to 2021, largely organic through successfully serving existing and new clients. In 2023, the company continues its strategy, with digitalisation and international growth being two key pillars.
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Organic growth and targeted acquisitions
The gross invoice value of over 2.2 billion euros represents an increase of 600 million euros compared to 2021, of which more than 400 million (27%) is organic growth. In addition, HeadFirst Group made several targeted acquisitions: Belgian HR-tech company ProUnity, IT talent sourcers StarApple and StackOps, online recruitment platform OpenTalent, and professionals services platform ZZP365. Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group, says: “We had a successful year on all fronts. We welcomed new clients and again succeeded in helping more professionals – independent and employed by our suppliers – find valuable assignments. The new brands in our group found their place. And to cap it all, we have been rated a Great Place to Work.”
Digital transformation
HeadFirst Group also aims to grow in 2023 through the combination of successful services to its customers – both clients, suppliers and professionals – and targeted acquisitions that add value to the group. To enable HeadFirst Group’s expansion in Europe – a key part of our strategy – IceLake Capital has joined as a new investor. Van Happen: “We are accelerating our digital transformation with the aim of mixing technology and human touch in our services in the most ideal way. By deploying tech smartly, we create that colleagues have personal contact at the times it really adds value for our customers. With IceLake on board, we will go at full speed on that strategic line in 2023.”
Van Happen continues: “Our purpose is: Join the next world of work. This new world of work is transparent, inclusive, increasingly technology-based and less fixated on the contract form. We are taking the lead in the journey to this next world and invite everyone around us to contribute to it.
More information
HeadFirst Group’s annual report can be read and downloaded at headfirst.group/en/investor-relations.
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading, international HR-tech service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Netherlands. The organisation offers a wide range of HR solutions, such as Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, IT Sourcing & Recruitment and HR consultancy. More than twenty-five thousand professionals work for over five hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realises an annual revenue of over two billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are MSP (including intermediary services) labels HeadFirst, Between and Staffing Management Services, RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen, IT talent sourcer StarApple, and Belgian HR-tech company ProUnity.
IceLake Capital backs HeadFirst Group as investment partner to accelerate future growth
HeadFirst Group, the leading HR-tech service provider for professionals in the Benelux, announces it has reached an agreement with IceLake Capital to join as the new investor to enable expansion of HeadFirst Group in Europe.
HeadFirst Group delivers a suite of HR services that tailor to the needs of large and mid-size enterprise clients in the private and public sector, with over 20,000 highly skilled professionals active daily. The company has a proven track record of strong organic as well as M&A growth, doubling its size over the past two years to over two billion revenue today. Also HeadFirst Group’s core market segments Managed Service Providers (MSP) and sourcing of STEM-profiles, continue to show positive momentum. With an established presence in the Benelux, the company sees ample opportunities to expand in Europe. With IceLake’s commitment, there is solid financing in place to realize these ambitions.
Financing for growth
In IceLake, HeadFirst Group has found a pragmatic and very ambitious shareholder that suits the company and its entrepreneurial culture. IceLake was founded by experienced private equity professionals and entrepreneurs who have extensive experience with building and growing companies. IceLake’s initial investment is part of a broader funding commitment towards the HeadFirst Group international M&A roadmap.
Han Kolff, Chairman of the Board of HeadFirst Group, said: “We are very pleased to welcome IceLake as a strong financial investor, next to our existing financing partner Kartesia and our founders. It is testament to the great achievements of our employees in professionalizing our organization and realizing solid growth in the past years. Having IceLake on board, we will be able to realize our strategic goals across Europe.”
Bastiaan Hagenouw of IceLake added: “We are very excited to back HeadFirst Group, as we appreciate how they have developed into a company with a unique and market leading position in the HR services space. We look forward to work with their experienced board and management team to realise their ambitions and providing its innovative, value-added solutions to an even wider range of clients, suppliers and professionals.”
Jean Diercxsens, Director at Kartesia, agrees: “We have seen HeadFirst Group more than double in size and profitability during the two years that we have been involved as financial sponsor and remain committed to be part of this journey. Kartesia is delighted with IceLake as the new investor, which will allow HeadFirst Group to pursue its profitable growth and international expansion.”
The transaction is subject to customary competition approvals.
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading, international HR-tech service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Netherlands. The organization offers a wide range of HR solutions, such as Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, IT Sourcing & Recruitment and HR consultancy. Daily, more than twenty thousand professionals work for over five hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over two billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are MSP (including intermediary services) labels HeadFirst, Between and Staffing Management Services, RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen and IT talent sourcer StarApple.
About IceLake
Icelake is a private equity firm which focusses on partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to support their (international) growth ambitions.
About Kartesia
Kartesia provides bespoke credit & capital solutions to leading mid-market companies headquartered in Europe. The group manages over EUR 5 billion and operates out of local offices across Europe.
HeadFirst Group acquires successful IT talent sourcer StarApple
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HR-techdienstverlener HeadFirst Group adds StarApple Group, consisting the brandsStarAppleandStackOps, to its organization. Both companies are specialized in sourcing IT and digital specialists. HeadFirst Group hereby takes another step in strengthening its portfolio of solutions for workforce challenges in the professionals segment: the current high-tech solutions of HeadFirst Group are enriched with the services with a great human touch of StarApple Group.
StarApple Group, is an ambitious and young organization, founded in 2008 and since then grown into a successful IT talent sourcer. StarApple Group has already successfully connected more than 10,000 specialists to a variety of organizations. Caner Hamamioglu, General Director at StarApple Group: “Growing talent is our mission. We do this by carefully connecting professionals from our network to assignments, where professionals not only do what they have done before with other clients, but are also challenged to take a step forward in their development. Design your career, is how we call it. With the collaboration with HeadFirst Group, we can do this on an even larger scale and we are looking forward to that tremendously.”
Responding to dynamic market
HeadFirst Group foresees that combining various services is necessary to continue to solve all client issues in the current dynamic global job market. Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group: “The scarcity will not disappear in the coming years. This requires creativity in opening up the market. We believe that combining high-tech solutions with services with a great human touch is the key to customer success. For us, those customers are both clients – who we continuously provide with mission critical talent – and professionals, who we actively help from assignment to assignment with the most attractive clients.”
StarApple Group remains independent
StarApple will become an independent brand within HeadFirst Group, retaining its own identity. The current management will continue to lead the organization in its growth strategy into the future. amamioglu: “HeadFirst Group will be the driving force behind StarApple. With our enthusiastic team of over eighty colleagues, we will continue to offer a full service recruitment solution for our clients and professionals. And we get access to the group’s platform, which gives us extra power to realize our growth ambitions.”
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading international HR service provider and a specialist in the professional organisation of external hiring. The company offers a variety of HR-solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, MSP-services, and business consultancy. Daily, more than fifteen thousand professionals work for over four hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of more than €1.5bn. HeadFirst Group’s main brands are intermediaries HeadFirst, Between, recruitmentspecialist Sterksen and Myler and managed service provider Staffing Management Services.
About StarApple Group
StarApple is an ambitious and young organization, founded in 2008 and since then it has grown into a successful IT talent sourcer. In 2018, a second brand was established in the form of StackOps, specializing in the mediation of professionals in IT infrastructure, cloud and security. With a team of more than eighty colleagues, StarApple and StackOps offer full service recruitment solutions for our clients and professionals. Together they have successfully connected more than 10,000 specialists to hundreds of organizations.
Note to editors
Do you have any questions or comments regarding this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, marketing & communication manager at HeadFirst Group, on 023 – 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.
Simone Groeneveld appointed Managing Director MSP services HeadFirst Group
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Simone Groeneveld has been appointed Managing Director MSP services by HeadFirst Group, market leader in HR services and platform for professionals. Simone started at the beginning of April at Staffing Management Services, the primary Managed Service Provider of HeadFirst Group. Under her leadership, Staffing MS will take the next step in its growth in the Benelux and beyond.
Simone Groeneveld has over twenty-five years of experience in HR services, both in MSP, RPO and temporary staffing. The last fifteen years she has had several management and board positions, mainly at large international service providers, partly from abroad. Simone about her new role: “There is a wonderful opportunityto further develop the MSP service – in combination with the total HeadFirst Group ecosystem of solutions. With respect and undiminished attention for the successfully built basis of Staffing MS and the current clients, we innovate to Talent Solution Provider. I believe that setting up good processes, which we as MSP are already very good at, and talent management is a golden combination.”
Next step in growth
Earlier this year, HeadFirst Group already made changes in the top of the organisation with the arrival of Marion van Happen as CEO, giving Han Kolff the opportunity to focus even more on his role as chairman of the board. The growth strategy in Europe is his main pillar. The appointment of Simone Groeneveld is therefore a logical next step.
Marion van Happen: “With Simone we are welcoming a very experienced professional, who is used to leading international and dynamic organisations. She knows what it is like to be hands-on – which suits the Rotterdam mentality of Staffing MS – and combines this with a powerful leadership. Under Simone’s guidance – and with the passionate commitment of all colleagues – Staffing MS will take the next step for growth in the Benelux and the rest of Europe.”
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading international HR service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Netherlands. The organisation offers a diversity of HR solutions: Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, intermediary services (matchmaking, contracting) and HR consultancy. On a daily basis an average of 16,000 professionals work for over 400 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realises an annual turnover of over 1.6 billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are the intermediaries HeadFirst and Between, MSP service provider Staffing Management Services and RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen.
Marion van Happen new CEO HeadFirst Group
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HeadFirst Group, market leader in HR services and platform for professionals, appoints Marion van Happen as its new CEO as of 1 February 2022. Marion takes over the role from Han Kolff, who will mainly focus on the international growth ambitions of the company in his role of Chairman of the Board. Marion will lead the group activities in the Benelux.
Leading platform
In recent years, HeadFirst Group has experienced major growth becoming the market leader in HR services on the Dutch labour market. The acquisitions of intermediary Between and recruitment specialist Sterksen in 2020 and 2021 have further strengthened the position of HeadFirst Group as a full-service HR service provider. The platform of HeadFirst Group has recently been extended with additional services for professionals and partners, such as a learning & development platform and tailor-made financial services. For clients, the platform is enriched with targeted talent pools and direct sourcing.
Marion, CEO: “I am really looking forward to this new challenge. First of all, my focus is on getting to know all colleagues and important relations. Next, my attention goes to the strategy for the coming years, which is unchanged: to roll out the tech roadmap, grow into a fully data-driven organisation, offer next-level services, become the leading platform in the Netherlands and realise European expansion.”
International growth
Han, Chairman of the Board: “We are very pleased that Marion is joining us. With her track record in our sector, she is ideally placed to further expand our position as a technology- and innovation-driven labour market platform. Her arrival gives the Board the opportunity to further focus on the ongoing expansion of HeadFirst Group in Europe. We are looking forward to roll out our growth strategy with Marion.”
Marion has over twenty years of experience in HR services, staffing and recruitment in various commercial and managerial positions in the Netherlands and abroad. Her last position was Chief Operating Officer at RGF Staffing the Netherlands, formerly known as USG People. Marion was previously General Manager of Unique. She also brings highly relevant expertise in digital transformation, innovation and operational performance management.
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading international HR service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Netherlands. The organisation offers a diversity of HR solutions: Managed Service Providing (MSP), Recruit Process Outsourcing (RPO), intermediary services (matchmaking, contracting) and HR consultancy. On a daily basis an average of 15,000 professionals work for over 400 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realises an annual turnover of more than 1.5 billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are the intermediaries HeadFirst, and Between, MSP Staffing Management Services and RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen.
Headfirst group expands its services with leading rpo & recruitment specialist Sterksen
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HeadFirst Group acquires recruitment services provider Sterksen. The market leader in organizing external hires is thus taking the strategic step of becoming a full service HR service provider for temporary and permanent work. HeadFirst Group and Sterksen are thus responding to the market trend that organizations are increasingly organizing the utilization of talent integrally – regardless of contract form.
Sterksen, founded in 2002, is succesfull in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), which means that a client outsources their recruitment process of new personnel. She also offers services in the field of recruitment, mediation for interim professionals and Managed Service Providing (MSP). Sterksen is a leading player in the IT & Technology segment.
Total Talent Management
With the acquisition of Sterksen, HeadFirst Group is responding to the market trend that companies increasingly organise their workforce integrally – regardless the nature of the contract – known in jargon as Total Talent Management. With this step, HeadFirst Group also meets the increasing demand from clients for service providers with a broad portfolio of HR services.
CEO Han Kolff explains: “The trend of total talent management has been going on for some time and is continuing. The type of contract used is becoming less and less relevant. The cooperation with Sterksen is therefore a logical step in the expansion of our services. Sterksen has a winning concept in recruiting top talent in IT & Technology; a dynamic, scarce, and growing segment of the market. Sterksen’s high touch recruitment expertise helps the group to broaden and deepen the quality of our services, in addition to our focus on high tech with our platforms.”
Sterksen stays independent
Sterksen will become an independent brand within HeadFirst Group, retaining its own identity. The current management will continue to manage the organisation. Sterksen and HeadFirst Group will join forces in various fields, which Donald Derksen – managing director of Sterksen – explains as follows: “The knowledge and experience in two areas – permanent and temp – are combined into a rock-solid combination. We will jointly advise and support clients with their recruitment and hiring needs. The size and leading market position of HeadFirst Group will help us open new doors, both nationally and internationally. HeadFirst Group will thus be the driving force behind Sterksen.”
International expansion
Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a growing and widely adopted concept in the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia and is rapidly gaining ground in continental Europe. HeadFirst Group and its brands have achieved expansion in several European countries in recent years through organic growth and partnerships. Kolff concludes: “Sterksen is going to help us tremendously in accelerating the delivery of value to existing and new clients across national borders.”
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading international HR service provider and a specialist in the professional organisation of external hiring. The company offers a variety of HR-solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, MSP-services, and business consultancy. Daily, more than fifteen thousand professionals work for over four hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of more than €1.5bn. HeadFirst Group’s main brands are intermediaries HeadFirst, Between and Myler and managed service provider Staffing Management Services.
About Sterksen
Sterksen is an innovative and leading recruitment service provider in the field of IT & Technology and specialist in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) since 2002. Vanuit de kantoren in Breda en Utrecht werkt Sterksen op zowel de Nederlandse als internationale markt, met een focus op Noordwest Europa. De organisatie bemiddelt jaarlijks zo’n 2.000 kandidaten en 150 interim IT & HR recruitment professionals. Sterksen staat bekend als een snelgroeiende onderneming met een notering als Top 250 Growth Company en FD Gazelle.
Note to editors
Do you have any questions or comments regarding this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, marketing & communication manager at HeadFirst Group, on 023 – 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.