Caraffi

What Caraffi does

Caraffi is a UK-based talent acquisition advisory and consulting firm that helps in-house Talent Acquisition (TA) Leaders and HR/People Directors transform their TA functions across operational excellence, brand and experience, and technology and data. Founded by Graeme Paxton, with Hayley Gray as co-founder, the firm runs from a London office (10 Bishops Square, E1 6EG) with a registered address in Woking, Surrey, and operates with a team of 11–50 employees serving enterprise clients across retail, utilities, media, banking, asset management and local government in the United Kingdom.

The company's product portfolio is organised around nine core offerings: Talent[ed], a 12-week cohort-based TA leadership growth programme priced at £5,000 per seat; Elevate, a peer-to-peer learning event series for in-house TA Leaders; TA Diagnostic, a scientific performance assessment of TA functions; Talent as a Service, surge resource support; Employer Branding services (EVP and proposition development); Talent Tech, technology implementation and configuration (ATS, VMS, HRIS, CRM); Data on Demand, market intelligence and salary benchmarking; Build-Operate-Transfer, outsourced permanent recruitment transformation; and MSP, managed service provider solutions for contingent workforces. Underlying these offerings is a library of proprietary frameworks — notably the TA Diagnostic, the AIDA model for passive attraction, and the Selection Technology Assessment Framework — overlaid with general AI, automation and data-analytics tooling used internally rather than as a productised capability. Technology is therefore adjacent enablement rather than a core differentiator.

Caraffi's revenue model blends professional services (quote-based advisory, consulting, MSP and BOT engagements) with a recurring subscription-style education product (Talent[ed]). Distribution is primarily direct, regional and consulting-led: a free 30-minute advisory session funnels prospects into paid engagements, supplemented by content marketing (blog, LinkedIn, YouTube, email), an Elevate event series, and a free Talent[ed] learning platform. The firm is privately held, founder-led, bootstrapped with no disclosed funding rounds, and has been shortlisted across three categories at the 2023 In-House Recruitment Awards for work with Britvic, The West Brom and the Eastern Region local authorities.

Name

Caraffi

Legal name

Caraffi Limited

Website

https://caraffi.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Caraffi is a UK-based talent acquisition advisory firm that helps in-house TA Leaders and HR/People Directors transform their TA functions through consulting, MSP, BOT and employer branding engagements, augmented by the Talent[ed] coaching programme and Elevate peer-learning events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Woking

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. Talent[ed] Programme: A 12-week growth programme for TA Managers and Leaders priced at £5000 per seat. Includes e-learning modules, templates, weekly coaching and mentoring. Additional 4 weeks for strategy development and presentation.
2. Advisory and Consulting Services: Talent acquisition advisory and consulting engagements including TA Diagnostic, Employer Branding, Talent Tech implementation, Build-Operate-Transfer, MSP services, and Data on Demand

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Caraffi is a UK talent acquisition advisory and consulting firm that helps organisations transform their talent functions through three pillars: Operational Excellence, Brand and Experience, and Technology and Data. Its offerings combine paid consulting engagements (TA Diagnostic, Talent as a Service, Employer Branding, Talent Tech, Data on Demand, Build-Operate-Transfer, MSP, Culture Transformation) with a cohort-based subscription training programme (Talent[ed]) and a peer-learning event series (Elevate).

Product overview

Caraffi is a talent acquisition advisory and consulting firm offering a portfolio of interconnected services organised around three core pillars: Operational Excellence, Brand and Experience, and Technology and Data. The product suite includes nine core offerings: Talent[ed] (a 12-week TA leadership growth programme with coaching and templates), Elevate (peer-to-peer learning events for TA leaders), TA Diagnostic (scientific performance assessment), Talent as a Service (surge resource), Employer Branding (EVP and brand development), Talent Tech (technology implementation), Data on Demand (market intelligence), Build-Operate-Transfer (RPO transformation), and MSP (contingent workforce management). Additional services include Culture Transformation. These work together as a comprehensive advisory ecosystem designed to elevate TA leaders and transform talent acquisition functions from reactive to strategic, data-driven, and purpose-led.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Talent[ed]: A growth programme for in-house TA Managers and Leaders that teaches how to be a TA Director through a 12-week learning programme with coaching and templates.
• Elevate

Products and services

• Talent[ed] Programme A 12-week growth programme for in-house TA Managers and Leaders, providing e-learning modules, templates, weekly coaching and mentoring plus a further 4 weeks for strategy development and presentation, designed to help TA Managers step into TA Director roles.
• Elevate Events Peer-to-peer learning events for in-house TA Leaders providing live strategy reviews and feedback in a safe, non-judgemental environment.
• TA Diagnostic A scientific analysis tool that provides an objective view of how a TA function is performing, identifying root causes of problems and recommending options for change.
• Talent as a Service Flexible TA resource support to handle recruitment spikes, providing additional expertise for organisations needing surge support.
• Employer Branding Services to help organisations build their EVP, talent brand and experience to become a destination employer, including proposition development, brand identity creation and activation across the talent lifecycle.
• Talent Tech Technology implementation, integration and configuration services for TA technology (ATS, VMS, HRIS, CRM) to provide necessary data and dashboards.
• Data on Demand Market research and deep insights on the talent market, including salary benchmarks, talent hub locations and ad hoc research delivered as needed.
• Build-Operate-Transfer Outsourced transformation service for permanent recruitment that builds the operations, trains the team and transfers management to create a self-sustaining in-house TA function.
• MSP (Managed Service Provider) Centralised management and optimisation of non-permanent workforce (contractors, temporary staff) including supplier transitions, compliance and governance.
• Culture Transformation Scientific assessment and transformation programme to diagnose root causes of culture problems and deliver programmes covering hybrid working, inclusion, learning culture, DE&I and internal mobility.

Quantifiable outcome

• 51% reduction in time to offer (Britvic)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cielo: Specialist RPO and talent acquisition partner whose service portfolio (TA transformation, employer brand, recruitment process outsourcing, strategic sourcing) mirrors Caraffi's nine core products almost line-for-line. Comparable model, comparable mid-market-to-enterprise buyer.
• Randstad Sourceright: RPO, MSP, and talent advisory arm of Randstad, providing enterprise-grade TA transformation and managed service provider solutions. Competes head-to-head with Caraffi's MSP and BOT offerings for similar enterprise sourcing and contingent workforce briefs.
• Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS): Global RPO and talent acquisition advisory offering end-to-end TA transformation, Build-Operate-Transfer, MSP, and employer brand services to large enterprises. Direct competitor to Caraffi's BOT, MSP, and TA transformation offerings across the same UK enterprise buyer persona.
• WilsonHCG: Global RPO and total talent solutions provider with established Build-Operate-Transfer and advisory practices serving FTSE-level enterprises. Overlaps directly with Caraffi on TA transformation, BOT delivery, and MSP-style contingent workforce consulting.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organisational consulting firm with extensive talent acquisition, employer brand, and HR advisory practices. A broader incumbent whose TA advisory competes for the same strategic TA transformation budgets as Caraffi, albeit at a vastly larger scale.
• ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions: Global workforce solutions arm of ManpowerGroup, offering RPO, MSP, and talent advisory at significant scale. Competes for the same managed service, RPO, and contingent workforce opportunities as Caraffi, particularly with multinational enterprises.
• Aon (Human Capital): Global professional services firm with a Human Capital practice covering workforce strategy, talent assessment, and HR transformation. Competes for enterprise-level TA strategy and culture transformation mandates that overlap with Caraffi's senior buyer conversations.
• PageGroup (Page Outsourcing / Page Personnel): Global recruitment and talent consulting firm with established RPO/MSP (Page Outsourcing) and senior search practices. UK-strong incumbent that competes with Caraffi's enterprise advisory and Build-Operate-Transfer offerings.

Emerging players

• Black Country Consultancy / Talentful: Boutique UK talent acquisition and talent operations consultancy serving scale-ups and mid-market firms with embedded TA, RPO-lite, and TA transformation services. Closest comparable in scale and specialisation to Caraffi within the same UK specialist advisory niche.
• HireVue: AI-driven talent assessment and interviewing platform serving enterprise TA functions. Adjacent competitor in the "Talent Tech" and assessment-adjacent categories, increasingly offering advisory-adjacent services around AI-powered selection.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Caraffi1
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCUDwVHH0hmYkNNu8FfMOlkA
• Facebookfacebook.com/Caraffi1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/caraffi
• Instagraminstagram.com/caraffiltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Caraffi