2025年英国招聘并购年度报告

Highlights Introduction3UK recruitment market: 2024 overview4UK recruitment market: Unemployment vs job vacancy5UK recruitment market: Business confidence6UK recruitment market: Capital markets7Deal overview9M&A activity10Recruitment industry insights: Navigating complex times14Recruitment market survey16Navigating liquidity challenges17Employment tax18Listed recruitment companies20Selection of UK recent deals22BDO mergers and acquisitions26 IntroductionRob Woodward from BDO 'sEmployment Tax Team considerstheimplications of this proposalfortheindustry as we eagerly awaitanupdate from the Government.From an economic standpoint therehasbeen a steadying of the shipastheBank of England base rateremained relatively flat during 2024.This contrasts with 2023 where wesawsignificant increases as the baserate moved from 1.75% to 5.25%totryto bring inflation under control.Atthetime of writing, GDP growthispredictedtoriseto 1.6% (from2025to 2029) boosted by an increaseinpublic spending. All these factors,although modest, provide morefavourable economic conditionsforbusinesses to grow and succeed.Despite the improving outlookwe'recognisant that many agenciescontinue to grapple with toughunderlying economic conditions;assuch we've invited commentaryfromGlyn Maisey in BDO's SpecialSituation M&A teamto offer somepractical tips for managing liquiditytoset businesses up for future success.Looking ahead to 2025, we expecttosee positive movements in thesectorwhich builds on M&A activitywe've seen during the last 12 months.The persistent low growth environmentin the UK continues to provide astimulus for agency Directors to seeknew opportunities, whether this beoverseas as evident within the recentM&A activity or identifying new sectorsand/or markets to re-focus efforts.Recruiters will need to be agileandwork closely with their clientstodeliver diverse solutions, leveragingan ever-increasing array of technologyto support strategic decisions and pushthe sector forward.M&A in the recruitment sectorDespite economic challenges, we sawsignificant M&A activity in 2024 withdeal volume growing by 49% comparedto2023. In total, we recorded 104deals, themajority of which(62%) weretrade led although equity investorswere still very much present investingin 30deals in 2024 compared to 24recruitment platform/softwarespacemade up almost a quarterofdealvolume. The use of AIandothertechnologies isbecomingrecruitment process, and we expecttosee this trend continue togrow withboth private equity andstrategic tradeplayers seeking high quality targets.Inpreparation for this report, we askedour readers how impactful they thoughtAutomation and AI would be on therecruitment industry in 2025 andaDirectorin our People Advisoryteamtalks about the importanceofAIand Technology for the industryin addition to providing informationonhow recruitment firms can navigatethese challenging times throughdiversifying solutions and findingnewways of working. Sam stressesthe importance of building long termrelationships with clients andprovidinga diverse service offeringThe proposal from the AutumnStatement concerning umbrellacompanies will undoubtedly haveasignificant impact on the sector.Thisproposal plans to make agenciesliable for unpaid PAYE/NIC in caseswhere the agency has engagedwithanumbrella company who deals in 2023.Unsurprisingly, deals in theincreasingly the norm intheonethird responded 'high'.In this edition, SamSeerha,toaddress client needs.arenotcompliant with theirpayrollobligations. Welcome to the 2025edition ofourannualM&A recruitment report.It’s safe to say 2024 wasaneventful year not only fortherecruitment industry butforUKbusinesses across theboard.The formation of a newGovernment in June followedbyThe Autumn Statement hassent businesses scrambling forsolutions to manage rising costs.The recruitment industry hasbeenparticularly badly hit by theannouncementof higher NationalInsurance costs and a much lowerthreshold on contributions withmany companies choosingtofreeze hiring. This coupledwithwider global economicuncertainties such as conflictsinthe Middle East and Ukraine,alongside a new US presidencyandprospect of new tradingarrangements to navigate,arehaving an adverse impactuponoverall business confidence.James FieldhouseM&A PartnerBDO LLP+44 (0)785 427 8307james.fieldhouse@bdo.co.uk The marketFollowing the wake of the Covid-19pandemic, the UK experiencedarecord number of job vacancieswhich was subsequently followedby a hiring slow-down in 2023-2024.Data for 2024 is more comparablewith, albeit remains slightly higherthan,pre-Covid vacancy numbers,averaging 767 vacancies/month(2019: 734).The market remains challengingfor many agencies, candidatesarereluctant to move amongsteconomic uncertainty and wecontinueto see a reduction inthenumber of permanent positions.A change of government followedby an AutumnBudget in 2024 hasUK recruitment marketFigure 1: UK industry revenue (2015-2024) with forecast (2025-2031)2024 overview-5,00010,00015,00020,00025