Liquid Personnel

What Liquid Personnel does

Liquid Personnel is a UK-based specialist recruitment agency operating in the social work, social care, special educational needs (SEN), and occupational therapy staffing markets. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Manchester with a registered office in London, the company places vetted temporary, permanent, ad hoc, project-based, and assessment-based professionals with local authorities, NHS trusts, fostering agencies, charities, and SEN schools across the UK and Ireland. The firm self-describes as the UK's number one social work agency and is a subsidiary of Acacium Group, a global healthcare staffing conglomerate, while retaining specialist focus and operational autonomy.

The company's underlying platform comprises a website-based job search and candidate registration system augmented by a portfolio of AI-assisted tools including CV-to-role matching, AI-constructed job descriptions with keyword optimization, CV reformatting, candidate screening and ranking, a chatbot for candidate queries, and AI-driven social media sourcing. Distribution is executed through approved-supplier status on NHS Collaborative Procurement Partnership and Health Trust Europe's Total Workforce Solutions Framework III, enabling direct placement to NHS clients, alongside dedicated sector-specialist consultants who operate consultatively with both candidates and client hiring managers.

Revenue is generated primarily via transaction fees, comprising margins on candidate hourly bill rates for temporary placements (observed postings in the £23-£45/hour range) and placement fees for permanent hires, supplemented by a referral bonus scheme (£500 per qualifying referral) that drives candidate acquisition at low marginal cost. Ancillary revenue-adjacent services include a CPD and training portal for candidates, a Social Worker Excellence Award programme, and the annual Social Work Survey conducted in partnership with academic institutions. The customer base spans 150-200+ organisations, with revenue concentration risk skewed toward UK public sector rather than any single named client.

Name

Liquid Personnel

Legal name

Liquid Personnel Limited

Website

https://liquidpersonnel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Liquid Personnel is a UK-based specialist recruitment agency placing vetted social workers, social care staff, SEN professionals, and occupational therapists with local authorities, NHS trusts, fostering agencies, and charities across the UK and Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Work Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Temporary Help Services (561320)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Technical Direct Hire (IT, Engineering, Finance, Healthcare) (BPACAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Healthcare Clinical & Allied Health Staffing (BPACADAJ), Healthcare Clinical Direct Hire (Nursing/Allied/Physicians) (BPACAFAH)

Keywords

• Social work recruitment
• Healthcare staffing services
• Special educational needs recruitment
• Occupational therapy staffing
• Social care recruitment

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Temporary/Permanent Placement Fees: Agency earns margins on candidate hourly rates for temporary placements and placement fees for permanent hires. They supply vetted social work, social care, and SEN professionals to clients on temporary, permanent, ad hoc, project, and assessment-based arrangements.
2. Referral Bonus Scheme: Operates a referral bonus scheme where candidates referring others earn £500 upon qualifying period completion (500 hours worked). This drives candidate acquisition at low cost.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Liquid Personnel operates as a specialist B2B recruitment agency supplying vetted temporary and permanent social work, social care, special educational needs (SEN), and occupational therapy professionals to UK local authorities, NHS trusts, fostering agencies, charities, and SEN schools. They place candidates across children's services, adults' services, and SEND roles on temporary, permanent, ad hoc, project, and assessment-based arrangements.

Product overview

Liquid Personnel operates as a specialist recruitment agency platform offering temporary, permanent, and project-based staffing solutions across social work, social care, special educational needs (SEN), and occupational therapy sectors. The core offering consists of sector-specific recruitment services organized by specialism (Children's Social Work, Adults' Social Work, Social Care, SEN, and Occupational Therapy), supported by ancillary services including a Social Work Training & CPD Portal for candidate development, a Refer a Friend Scheme for candidate referral incentives, and a Social Worker Excellence Award program. The company serves local authorities, NHS trusts, fostering agencies, charities, and other public sector organizations across the UK and Ireland, placing vetted professionals who respond to evolving workforce demands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Social Work Recruitment Services Temporary, permanent, ad hoc, project and assessment-based recruitment of qualified social workers for local authorities, NHS trusts, fostering agencies, and charities across children's and adults' services in the UK and Ireland.
• Children's Social Work Recruitment Specialist recruitment for child protection, looked after children, referral and assessment, MASH, and fostering and adoption social work roles for local authorities.
• Adults' Social Work Recruitment Recruitment for adult social work roles including hospital discharge, mental health, adult safeguarding, older people, learning disabilities, and community-based positions.
• Social Care Recruitment Recruitment of social care staff including registered managers, children's home managers, care practitioners, support workers, and disability support specialists for care homes, residential services, and disability support organisations.
• Special Educational Needs (SEN) Recruitment Recruitment of SEN professionals including educational psychologists, SEND case officers, EHC plan writers, and higher level teaching assistants for local authorities and SEN schools.
• Occupational Therapy Recruitment Specialist recruitment for HCPC-registered occupational therapists across community, mental health, rehabilitation, reablement, and children with disabilities services for NHS and local authority clients.
• Social Work Training & CPD Portal Exclusive training and continuous professional development portal offered to registered candidates, supporting CPD events and Social Work England renewal requirements.
• Refer a Friend Scheme Referral bonus programme offering £500 to candidates who recommend qualified health and social care professionals who complete 500 hours of work via the agency.

Quantifiable outcome

• Industry-leading compliance and exceptional audit scores
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Acacium GroupcoreOthersParent company providing global backing, financial resilience, and shared services (HR, IT, finance, compliance) while Liquid Personnel retains specialist focus. Part of group companies sharing data for administrative, regulatory, and operational purposes. Privacy notice issued on behalf of Acacium Group and all its group companies.
• NHS Collaborative Procurement PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Framework for the Provision of Clinical and Healthcare Staffing - Liquid Personnel is an approved supplier of temporary and permanent staff via this framework, enabling direct placement to NHS organisations.
• Health Trust Europe - Total Workforce Solutions Framework IIIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerApproved supplier of staffing services to the NHS via Total Workforce Solutions Framework III for clinical and healthcare staffing provision.
• Professor Eileen Munro (London School of Economics)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on 2014-2015 Social Work Survey, collecting opinions from 1,600 UK social work practitioners. Professor Munro conducted the UK Government review of child protection in England.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sanctuary Personnel: UK-based specialist social work, social care, and healthcare recruitment agency operating across temporary and permanent placements for local authorities and NHS. Direct head-to-head competitor to Liquid Personnel in the same role categories and client base.
• Charles Hunter Associates: Specialist UK recruitment consultancy for social work, healthcare, and criminal justice, supplying temporary and permanent candidates to local authorities and NHS trusts. Overlaps directly with Liquid Personnel's social work vertical.
• Ackerman Pierce: UK recruitment agency specialising in social work, social care, and qualified healthcare professional placements into local authorities. Comparable model: B2B consultancy recruiting vetted candidates into similar client segments.
• Sugarman Health & Wellbeing: UK recruitment and staffing provider focused on healthcare, social care, and allied health professionals. Competes in the same temporary staffing market for local authority and NHS clients as Liquid Personnel.
• Tripod Partners: UK specialist recruitment firm covering SEN, SEND, education, and social care sectors. Direct competitor in the SEN/EHC plan writer and educational psychology verticals where Liquid Personnel is active.
• Service Care Solutions: UK recruitment consultancy supplying temporary and permanent social workers, healthcare, and criminal justice professionals to local authorities, NHS, and charities. Comparable candidate-acquisition model and client verticals to Liquid Personnel.

Broad incumbents

• Reed Social Care: Specialist social care arm of Reed, the UK's largest generalist recruitment firm. Competes with Liquid Personnel for local authority and NHS social work placements but operates within a much broader portfolio spanning all sectors and job types.
• Hays Social Care: UK social care recruitment division of Hays plc, a global recruitment conglomerate. Targets local authorities and NHS for qualified social workers, sharing the same candidate pool and client base as Liquid Personnel but as part of a much wider workforce solutions portfolio.
• Pertemps Network Group: Large UK generalist staffing group with a dedicated social care and healthcare division supplying temporary and permanent staff to local authorities and NHS. Wider portfolio than Liquid Personnel but overlapping client relationships.
• Medacs Healthcare: Global healthcare staffing provider operating in the UK with social work and allied health placements into NHS and local authority clients. Part of Acacium Group (Liquid Personnel's parent), making it a group affiliate rather than purely external competitor, but functionally competes for similar placements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/liquidpersonnel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/liquid-personnel
• Instagraminstagram.com/liquidpersonnel
• Xx.com/liquidpersonnel

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Liquid Personnel