What Next Group does

The Next Group is a privately held Australian parent company headquartered in Sydney that operates as the holding entity for two specialist recruitment and search consultancies. The Next Step is described as Australia's longest-serving specialist HR recruitment consultancy dedicated to the human resources profession, and The Safe Step is positioned as Australia's leading consultancy in health, safety, environment, and wellbeing recruitment. A related entity, The Strategic Step Advisory, shares systems and service functions with the group and provides advisory services. The group targets enterprise and mid-market organizations seeking specialist talent, with named clients spanning telecommunications, healthcare, banking, energy, retail, defense, and logistics.

The group's underlying technology consists of a secure cloud-based Applicant Tracking System and Customer Relationship Management platform, with HubSpot CRM used for data backup. AI and machine-learning tools are utilized through approved third-party providers to support candidate matching and recruitment advisory operations. The firm maintains dedicated job boards and career portals via each sub-brand's website, alongside LinkedIn as its primary social channel for candidate and client engagement.

The Next Group generates revenue through professional services fees on successful candidate placements, typically structured as a percentage of placed candidate annual salary or as fixed placement fees for retained search engagements, with multi-year contracts available. Distribution is via direct, consultative sales engagement with enterprise hiring managers across Australia's four major metropolitan markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth), with administrative functions extending to New Zealand, the USA, and the Philippines. The firm employs between 11 and 50 staff and is led by CEO Aaron Neilson, with founder Craig Mason and CFO Michael Knapstein in the leadership team.

Name

Next Group

Legal name

The Next Group

Website

https://thenextgroup.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Next Group is a privately held Australian parent company operating specialist HR and HSE/wellbeing recruitment consultancies (The Next Step and The Safe Step), serving enterprise clients across Australia with cloud-based ATS/CRM infrastructure and direct consultative sales across four metro offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Services / Executive Search

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

Keywords

• HR recruitment services
• Executive search consulting
• Workplace health safety recruitment
• Talent acquisition solutions
• Specialist recruitment consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Recruitment and Search Services: The company generates revenue through recruitment and search consultancy services, placing HR and HSE professionals with client organizations. Revenue is derived from successful candidate placements, typically through retained search mandates or contingency-based placement fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Next Group is a parent company for two specialist recruitment and search consultancies in Australia: The Next Step, which connects HR professionals with employers, and The Safe Step, which connects health, safety, environment and wellbeing professionals with employers. The company places HR and HSE talent through retained search mandates and contingency-based placements, serving enterprise and mid-market clients across industries.

Product overview

The Next Group is a parent company operating two specialist recruitment and search consultancies: The Next Step (dedicated to HR recruitment) and The Safe Step (specialising in health, safety, environment, and wellbeing recruitment). The company also has a related entity, The Strategic Step Advisory, which shares systems and service functions with the parent company. The group operates as a unified recruitment services platform connecting quality talent with opportunities across Australia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Next Step: Australia's longest serving specialist HR recruitment consultancy dedicated to the human resources profession.
• The Safe Step
• The Strategic Step Advisory

Products and services

• The Next Step Australia's longest-serving specialist HR recruitment consultancy dedicated to the human resources profession. The Next Step connects HR professionals — including HR managers, directors, business partners, and administrators — with employment opportunities across all industry sectors through retained search and contingency-based placements.
• The Safe Step Australia's leading recruitment and search consultancy specialising in health, safety, environment and wellbeing. The Safe Step connects HSE, WHS, workplace health, safety, and wellbeing professionals with employment opportunities across Australia, helping organizations address compliance, safety, and wellbeing initiatives.
• The Strategic Step Advisory A related or affiliated advisory entity of The Next Group that shares systems, resources, and service functions with the parent company. The Strategic Step Advisory provides advisory services to clients, leveraging the group's expertise in HR and HSE recruitment and organizational development.

Named customers38 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Next StepcoreOthersThe Next Step is a subsidiary brand of The Next Group, operating as Australia's longest serving specialist HR recruitment consultancy dedicated to the human resources profession. It serves as one of two core operating divisions.
• The Safe StepcoreOthersThe Safe Step is a subsidiary brand of The Next Group, operating as Australia's leading recruitment and search consultancy specializing in health, safety, environment and wellbeing. It serves as one of two core operating divisions.
• The Strategic Step AdvisoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Strategic Step Advisory operates as a related or affiliated entity of The Next Group. May share systems, resources and service functions with The Next Group where appropriate for delivering services and supporting client relationships.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• People2people: Australian specialist recruitment firm operating across multiple disciplines including HR and corporate services. Comparable boutique scale and specialisation, serving similar mid-market and enterprise clients in Australia.
• The One Umbrella: Australian specialist HR recruitment consultancy. Competes head-to-head with The Next Step in the Australian HR recruitment market with similar target customer base of HR professionals and HR-hiring enterprises.
• Frazer Jones: Global specialist recruiter focused on HR, legal, risk, and compliance functions. Directly comparable to The Next Step given shared HR-executive-search specialization and overlapping customer base in professional services and corporate HR.
• Tandem Partners: Australian executive search firm focused on senior leadership and HR placements. Direct competitor to Next Step for senior HR and HR-adjacent executive search mandates in Australia.
• SafetyPeople: Australian specialist recruiter focused on workplace health and safety roles. Directly comparable to The Safe Step with overlapping HSE candidate pools and similar WHS-focused client base across industrial and corporate sectors.

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half Australia: Global staffing and recruitment firm with strong Australian operations. Overlaps with Next Group in HR and finance recruitment, serving similar enterprise clients but at much larger scale and broader functional scope.
• Michael Page Australia: Global recruitment group with established Australian operations across professional disciplines. Overlaps with Next Group in HR and mid-to-senior professional search but serves a broader range of functions and seniority levels.
• Chandler Macleod: Major Australian recruitment and workforce solutions provider. Overlaps with Next Group in HR recruitment and offers broader staffing, RPO, and MSP services that Next Group does not directly compete with.
• Hays Australia: Large global recruitment firm with deep Australian presence across multiple specialisms including HR. Larger incumbent offering similar services at scale but with broader portfolio rather than niche HR/HSE focus.
• Hudson Australia: Established Australian recruitment firm with HR, talent management, and RPO capabilities. Competes with Next Group on HR recruitment mandates but also offers broader workforce solutions and consulting services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-next-group

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 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 Next Group