HR GO Recruitment
HR GO Recruitment is a UK-based, family-owned staffing agency founded in 1957 that places temporary and permanent workers across 17 sectors via 12 UK branches, a proprietary client portal, and an in-house AI matching tool called Betty, serving enterprise clients including the NHS, Waitrose, and Aldi.
- Company typePublic
- Founded1957
- HeadquartersGlasgow, United Kingdom
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What HR GO Recruitment does
HR GO Recruitment is a UK-headquartered staffing and recruitment agency operating as the trading arm of HR GO plc, a family-owned public limited company founded in 1957 and led by CEO John Parkinson. The firm provides temporary and permanent placement services across 17 sectors — including manufacturing, food production, warehouse, engineering, office & professional, facilities management, retail, aerospace, accountancy, legal, hospitality, construction, and agriculture — serving enterprise clients such as the NHS, Waitrose, Aldi, Whistl, Kingspan, Thanet District Council, and Regatta. HRGO reports filling up to 10,000 positions daily and placing 37,000+ temporary workers annually, with one customer alone accounting for £2m of weekly payroll across 7,000 temps. Revenue is generated on a contingent transaction-fee basis for placements, supplemented by managed payroll services for temporary workforces, with no upfront client fees under a pay-for-results model.
The company distributes through a hybrid model combining 12 UK branches with self-serve digital channels, including a candidate portal, a proprietary client portal (font.hrgo.co.uk) providing 360-degree real-time workforce management, and a public job board (jobs.hrgo.co.uk) with 291 active listings. Its technology stack includes 'Betty', an in-house AI tool named after the founder that performs skills-based candidate matching using embeddings, AI-generated application feedback, OCEAN/Big 5 psychometric assessments, and a payroll processing system that has cut processing time by 98% (from one day to 15 minutes). The AI layer is built on OpenAI and Google Gemini accessed via Open Router under GDPR-compliant data processing agreements.
HRGO operates primarily in the UK with 12 branches, an international office in Wrocław, Poland, and a referenced Australia office, supported by approximately 120 professionals. The firm holds ISO 9001:2015, GLAA licensing, REC membership, and a Stronger Together partnership, enabling it to operate in regulated sectors including food packaging and public-sector staffing. Recent strategic activity includes the 2025 launch of Betty, the Wrocław expansion, and recognition through three industry awards in 2025 (Chamber Business Awards Regional Winner, Global Recruiter Award, British Recruitment Awards).
HR GO Recruitment firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- HR GO Recruitment
- Legal name
- HR GO plc
- Website
- https://hrgo.co.uk
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 1957
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- HR GO Recruitment is a UK-based, family-owned staffing agency founded in 1957 that places temporary and permanent workers across 17 sectors via 12 UK branches, a proprietary client portal, and an in-house AI matching tool called Betty, serving enterprise clients including the NHS, Waitrose, and Aldi.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
HR GO Recruitment industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Staffing and Recruitment Services
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Temporary Help Services (561320), Professional Employer Organizations (561330)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Help Supply Services (7363)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA), Comprehensive HRO (Multi-Process HR Outsourcing) (BPACAKAA), Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG), Compensation & Performance Administration Outsourcing (annual cycles, merit, reviews) (BPACAKAL)
Keywords
Where HR GO Recruitment is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glasgow
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
HR GO Recruitment business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Temporary Placement Fees: Revenue from placing temporary workers with client businesses. Operates on a contingent model meaning clients only pay when a candidate is successfully placed.
- Permanent Placement Fees: Revenue from placing permanent employees with client organisations. Contingent model where fee is paid upon successful placement.
- Payroll Services: Managing payroll for temporary workers, processing payments, timesheets, and related payroll functions for approximately 7,000 temp workers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Contingent recruitment model |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels9 records
HR GO Recruitment product offering
Product offeringCore offering
HR GO Recruitment is a UK-based staffing and recruiting agency that supplies temporary and permanent workers to businesses across sectors such as manufacturing, food production, warehouse, engineering, office, local authorities, and facilities management. It fills up to 10,000 positions daily and places over 37,000 temporary workers annually, supported by proprietary technology including the in-house "Betty" AI candidate-matching tool, a client workforce management portal, and managed payroll services.
Product overview
HR GO Recruitment operates as a technology-enabled recruitment agency offering a connected suite of staffing and workforce management services. The core offering consists of Permanent and Temporary Recruitment services, supplemented by proprietary digital platforms including the HRGO Client Portal (for workforce management), Candidate Account Portal, and Job Board. The service portfolio extends to supporting functions including Payroll, Onboarding, Compliance, Time & Attendance, and specialized AI-powered tools. The proprietary 'Betty' AI system powers candidate matching and recommendation, while Psychometric Testing (using OCEAN/Big 5 personality assessments) supports candidate suitability evaluation. Services span multiple industries including Manufacturing, Food Production, Warehouse, Engineering, Office & Professional, Facilities Management, and Local Authorities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Permanent Recruitment Sourcing and placing permanent staff for businesses across the UK, filling executive, professional, and technical roles. Targets clients in manufacturing, food production, engineering, office, warehouse, local authorities, and facilities management.
- Temporary Recruitment Supplying temporary workers to businesses, managing up to 10,000 positions daily via a network of 37,000+ temp workers placed annually. Serves clients across manufacturing, food production, warehouse, retail, engineering, and local authorities.
- Onboarding Services End-to-end onboarding support for new hires including compliance checks, documentation, and integration assistance for UK businesses engaging temporary or permanent workers through HRGO.
- Compliance Services Industry-leading systems and right-to-work checks ensuring workers comply with UK regulations, including GLAA licensing for sectors such as food packaging and processing.
- Time & Attendance Tracking and management tools for monitoring worker attendance and time worked, integrated into the Client Portal for real-time workforce visibility.
- Payroll Services Managed payroll processing for temporary workers, processing weekly payments and handling tax/NI deductions. Achieves 98% payroll processing efficiency with times reduced from one day to 15 minutes, processing £2m weekly payroll for 7,000 temp workers at a single customer.
- Data & AI Services AI-powered data analysis services to get a deeper understanding of candidate skills and capabilities for better matching, using the proprietary Betty AI tool together with OpenAI and Google Gemini integrations.
- Personality Insights (Psychometric Testing) Personality assessment tool using the OCEAN/Big 5 model to help understand candidates' working style, preferences, and potential suitability for roles. Results are reviewed alongside other application information by recruitment consultants.
- HRGO Client Portal Proprietary client portal providing a 360-degree view of workforce including worker information, holiday requests, timesheets, and reports. Accessed via font.hrgo.co.uk for business partners managing temporary workforces.
- Candidate Account Portal Online portal for candidates to register for work, log in, manage profiles, apply for jobs, and track applications; also used to access payslips and job alerts.
- HRGO Job Board Online job board at jobs.hrgo.co.uk displaying 291 active job listings across various sectors including manufacturing, engineering, warehouse, retail, and professional services throughout the UK.
Quantifiable outcome
- 98% improvement in payroll processing time (from one day to 15 minutes)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use HR GO Recruitment
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments17 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
HR GO Recruitment technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
HR GO Recruitment partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)coreHRGO is a member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), adhering to industry standards and best practices. This membership demonstrates commitment to ethical recruitment and compliance with industry regulations.
- Stronger TogethercoreHRGO is a business partner of Stronger Together, an initiative aimed at tackling hidden labour exploitation. This partnership supports their commitment to ethical recruitment and worker protection.
- Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)coreHRGO holds a GLAA licence, demonstrating compliance with labour standards and authorisation to supply workers in regulated sectors including food packaging and processing.
- ISO 9001:2015coreHRGO maintains ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certification, with performance regularly reviewed at board level to ensure continuous improvement.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights6 records
HR GO Recruitment competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pertemps Network Group: UK-headquartered, multi-sector staffing and recruitment agency with a long heritage, branch network and permanent/temporary placement services that closely mirror HRGO's core offering across industries such as industrial, office, professional and healthcare.
- Hays plc: UK-listed, global specialist recruiter with deep multi-sector coverage (including industrial, professional, healthcare and public sector) and AI-enabled matching platforms; competes head-to-head with HRGO for enterprise and perm/temp mandates across the UK.
- PageGroup: UK-listed recruitment group (Michael Page, Page Personnel) focused on permanent and contract professional placements; closest direct competitor in the permanent/higher-skill segment of HRGO's mix and a useful public-market comparable.
- Reed Specialist Recruitment: One of the UK's largest domestic recruitment agencies with permanent, temporary and managed-service offerings across virtually every sector HRGO covers, including a national branch network and enterprise client base.
- BlueArrow: UK-focused staffing brand under the SThree/Synergie umbrella providing temporary and permanent placements across industrial, driving, office and professional — directly comparable in scale, branch footprint and customer profile to HRGO.
Broad incumbents
- Adecco Group: Global staffing leader operating General Staffing, Professional Staffing and Solutions brands (including Adecco UK) across the same industries HRGO serves, but at far greater scale and with much broader geographic and service coverage.
- ManpowerGroup: World's largest staffing company with substantial UK temporary and permanent operations; overlaps with HRGO on industrial, warehouse, office and professional placements while operating a much broader portfolio including RPO and Right Management.
- Gi Group: Italy-headquartered global staffing and workforce solutions provider with growing UK presence in temporary, permanent and outsourcing; comparable in its broad multi-sector strategy and bundling of payroll/compliance services.
- Robert Half International: Specialist staffing and consulting firm with a strong UK professional and administrative placement presence; comparable in the office/professional and finance/accountancy segments where HRGO also operates.
Others
- Recruit Group (Indeed / Glassdoor parent): Holding group for Indeed and other job-marketplace businesses that compete with HRGO's jobs.hrgo.co.uk job board by aggregating candidate supply at massive scale; relevant because AI-driven marketplace matching overlaps with HRGO's Betty AI candidate-matching thesis.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
HR GO Recruitment social profiles
Digital presenceHR GO Recruitment compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
HR GO Recruitment financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
HR GO Recruitment leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
HR GO Recruitment subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
HR GO Recruitment funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
HR GO Recruitment M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about HR GO Recruitment
What does HR GO Recruitment do?
HR GO Recruitment is a UK-based staffing and recruiting agency that supplies temporary and permanent workers to businesses across sectors such as manufacturing, food production, warehouse, engineering, office, local authorities, and facilities management. It fills up to 10,000 positions daily and places over 37,000 temporary workers annually, supported by proprietary technology including the in-house "Betty" AI candidate-matching tool, a client workforce management portal, and managed payroll services.
Is HR GO Recruitment a public or private company?
HR GO Recruitment is a public company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was HR GO Recruitment founded?
HR GO Recruitment was founded in 1957. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is HR GO Recruitment based?
HR GO Recruitment is headquartered in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does HR GO Recruitment make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Temporary Placement Fees are the primary driver. The others are permanent Placement Fees and payroll Services.
Who are HR GO Recruitment's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pertemps Network Group, Hays plc, PageGroup, Reed Specialist Recruitment and BlueArrow. Broad incumbents are Adecco Group, ManpowerGroup, Gi Group and Robert Half International. Recruit Group (Indeed / Glassdoor parent) is listed as an others.
Does HR GO Recruitment have an API?
No public API is recorded for HR GO Recruitment.
What industry is HR GO Recruitment in?
HR GO Recruitment's product category is Staffing and Recruitment Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAPAD, Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS), with a secondary code of BPACAFAA, General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry). Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.