S T R Group

Name

S T R Group

Legal name

STR Ltd

Website

https://strgroup.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialist Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

Keywords

• STEM talent recruitment
• Specialist staffing services
• Recruitment process outsourcing
• Engineering recruitment services
• Life sciences recruitment

Headquarters

HQ city

Portsmouth

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. International Recruitment Services: Cross-country and in-country hiring solutions for contract and permanent staff placement internationally.
2. Engaged Search: Confident end-to-end solution to identify, attract and engage exceptional talent for critical roles.
3. Retained Search: Bespoke comprehensive programme to identify, shortlist and deliver high-level talent with confidentiality assurance.
4. Managed Programmes (RPO/MSP): Strategic company-wide approach to recruitment of direct hires and permanent staff (RPO) or contract, temporary and interim workers (MSP).
5. Contingent Services: End-to-end contingent recruitment service to supplement or replace current client headcount.
6. Statement of Work: End-to-end delivery of STEM related projects within scope, timescale and budget.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

STR Group is a global STEM talent recruitment holding company operating through five specialist sub-brands (Blackedge Consulting, Blackfield Associates, Insignis, Navis Consulting, Talos Automation) that deliver end-to-end recruitment services across life sciences, technology, engineering, marine, automation, and design/build sectors. Core service offerings include international recruitment, retained and engaged search, exclusive projects, managed programmes (RPO/MSP), contingent services, statement of work project delivery, market insights, and EVP diagnostic advisory services.

Product overview

STR Group is a global STEM Talent Recruitment business comprising 5 unique specialist sub-brands (Blackedge Consulting, Blackfield Associates, Insignis, Navis Consulting, and Talos Automation) that operate across different sectors including Life Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Manufacturing, Marine, Automation, and Architecture. The group offers a unified portfolio of recruitment solutions including International Recruitment, Retained Search, Exclusive Projects, Managed Programmes (RPO/MSP), Contingent Services, Statement of Work, and Market Insights. Additionally, the group provides advisory services such as the EVP Diagnostic Service to help clients strengthen their employer brand and talent attraction strategies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Blackedge Consulting: Specialist recruitment brand focused on Design/Build sector.
• Blackfield Associates
• Insignis
• Navis Consulting
• Talos Automation

Products and services

• International Recruitment
• Engaged Search
• Retained Search
• Exclusive Projects
• Managed Programmes (RPO/MSP)
• Contingent Services
• Statement of Work
• Market Insights
• EVP Diagnostic Service
• Blackedge Consulting
• Blackfield Associates
• Insignis
• Navis Consulting
• Talos Automation

Quantifiable outcome

• Delivered projects in over 50 countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Fair WaysminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026STR Group signed up as Fair Ways Fostering Friendly Employer supporting a Hampshire-based charity providing children's services, care and support. Annual Christmas gift programme for foster families.
• Make UK DefencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Insignis, the engineering, manufacturing and technology brand of STR Group, strengthened partnership with Make UK Defence reinforcing commitment to the UK's defence supply chain sector. This collaboration positions STR at the heart of the defence industry.
• ISPE (International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering) - UK ChaptercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Blackfield Associates continued partnership with ISPE UK Chapter, delivering the GMPCast webinar series and enabling knowledge-sharing and best practice throughout the pharmaceutical industry.
• Motiv8minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023First official Corporate Partnership with Motiv8, a local charity creating brighter futures for young people across Portsmouth and surrounding areas. Staff participated in Tough Mudder and Spinnaker Tower abseil events.
• Bird and Bird SolicitorscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2023Bird and Bird's London office led the legal team for the MBO transaction. The firm had been STR's corporate lawyers for two years with their international network invaluable for STR's growth.
• Make UKcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022STR Group appointed as RPO provider to Make UK, champions of UK engineering and manufacturing industry. Following discovery meetings, a Recruitment Process Outsourcing solution was implemented.
• Smallpeice TrustminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Educational charity partnership providing young people with STEM learning opportunities. STR Group and Make UK sponsored STEM Challenge Days at local schools including Miltoncross Academy.
• In2ScienceUKminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Charity partner promoting social mobility and diversity in STEM. Blackfield Associates staff completed the National 3 Peaks Challenge to raise funds and awareness.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SThree plc: SThree is a London-listed specialist STEM staffing group operating across life sciences, technology, and engineering — the closest publicly traded comparable to STR Group's multi-brand STEM vertical model.
• Gattaca plc (Akkodis): Gattaca (now operating under Akkodis) is a UK specialist staffing firm focused on engineering and technology recruitment — directly comparable to STR's Insignis and Navis brands in scale and STEM vertical focus.
• Morson Group: Morson is a UK-based engineering and technical recruitment group serving defence, marine, nuclear, and infrastructure — directly comparable to STR's Navis Consulting (marine) and Insignis (engineering/manufacturing) coverage.
• Matchtech: Matchtech is a UK STEM specialist recruiter (engineering, aerospace, marine) — a near-direct comparator given overlapping engineering and marine verticals with STR's Insignis and Navis brands.
• NES Fircroft (NES Global Talent): NES Fircroft is a global specialist STEM recruiter in engineering, technical, and life sciences — directly comparable to STR's verticalised multi-brand model across energy, engineering, and pharma.
• Quanta Consultancy Services: Quanta is a specialist STEM staffing firm focused on life sciences, renewable energy, and engineering — a strong comparator to Blackfield Associates (life sciences/pharma) and STR's renewable/engineering verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Hays plc: Hays is a global FTSE-listed recruitment conglomerate across multiple sectors — competing in the same STEM verticals as STR but at significantly larger scale and broader generalist orientation.
• Robert Walters plc: Robert Walters is a London-listed professional recruitment firm with overlap in engineering, technology, and life sciences — a broader-scope incumbent that competes with STR's specialist STEM brands.
• PageGroup: PageGroup (Michael Page, Page Personnel) is a global recruitment group with engineering, life sciences, and technology practice areas — competing with STR's specialist brands but with a generalist model and substantially larger scale.
• Impellam Group: Impellam is a UK-listed recruitment group with STEM-adjacent brands — a broader-scope incumbent whose portfolio model is comparable to STR Group's holding-company structure over five sub-brands.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/str_group
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@strgroup3420
• Facebookfacebook.com/theSTRGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/str-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/strgroupcareers

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries5 records

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 S T R Group