NelsonHall research shows that the top vendor selection criteria for buyers of RPO services include having a geographic footprint aligned with client geographies, and the ability to scale geographically to meet future needs. Over the last few years U.K.-based vendors in particular have been expanding their RPO and related recruiting and talent offerings globally, via M&As, partnerships and/or organically. Here we take a look at two recent examples: Capita, and RTM (formerly Rethink Talent Management, a division of Rethink Group).

Capita

In December 2015, Capita acquired the consultancy and resourcing operations of Work Group to strengthen its employer branding and employee engagement consulting capability. Earlier in 2015 Capita also acquired ThirtyThree to expand its recruitment services and employer brand consulting capability. Combined with Work Group, who have offices in the U.K., New York, and Hong Kong, Capita Resourcing will be able to expand its service offering to MNCs in North America and Asia. Initially the New York office will provide consulting services for employer branding, candidate communication and employee engagement. Growth plans in the short-term include sourcing services to include talent search and talent pipelining as well as locally delivered pre-employment screening services. In the medium-term, Capita plans to deliver RPO services from New York to clients with operations in North America. In addition, Capita recently established a sourcing operation in Krakow. Capita’s next target for global delivery expansion is Singapore, to serve clients in Asia Pacific along with Hong Kong. Via the acquisition of Work Group, Capita also acquired its candidate management and assessment business in Colchester, U.K. which is heavily focused on graduate recruitment.

Capita’s recent acquisitions expand its geographic capability and broaden and strengthen its service offerings. Capita will target U.K.-based MNCs, while emphasizing its focus on employer branding, employee engagement and the employee value proposition.

RTM

Upon completing its acquisition of Consort Group, Rethink Talent Management rebranded to RTM on February 10. In 2015, Consort Group was acquired to expand and strengthen RTM’s RPO and recruitment consulting capability, with services including:

• Employment branding and attraction
• Talent pooling and talent profiling
• Onboarding
• On-demand services
• Permanent and contingent hiring using RPO (the predominant model) and MSP.

The acquisition expanded and strengthened RTM’s RPO services, including in the financial services and retail sectors. RTM is now able to provide Consort’s RPO and talent management offerings to existing clients and vice versa. RTM had already been providing employer branding and MSP services, but Consort strengthens RTM’s offering, the primary focus of which will be on talent acquisition.

RTM is targeting U.K.-headquartered organizations with a global presence. RTM already has global contracts, including clients with employees in Canada and South Africa served from the U.K. and in Asia Pacific served from Melbourne and Singapore. RTM provides service employees onsite and also utilizes recruitment partners in its aforementioned hubs. European client locations, including Germany, are serviced from the U.K. and Ireland, specifically from its Dublin and Cork offices. Client locations in South America will be serviced via partners.

The above expansions and enhancements of service offerings are more important than ever as clients seek to attract the right talent for the right jobs, and with high retention rates. In addition, there continue to be more and more MNCs looking to expand RPO to additional countries. NelsonHall research shows that currently ~ 1/3 of all RPO contracts are multi-country, and we forecast this to increase to ~ 50% within four years. We also expect further vendor consolidation and partnerships, as providers continue to strengthen their service delivery and geographic capability.