Hoople

What Hoople does

Hoople Ltd (company number 7556595) is a Hereford, UK-based private limited company that operates a multi-service shared-services portfolio for the UK public sector. Founded in 2011 and 'influenced by' Herefordshire Council, Wye Valley NHS Trust and Lincolnshire County Council (per the company footer), Hoople operates more than 11 distinct service lines grouped under sub-brands: Hoople IT Services, Hoople Training, Hoople Study Programme, Hoople Recruitment, Hoople HR & Payroll, Hoople Finance, Hoople Revenues & Benefits, Hoople Care, Hoople Building Maintenance, Hoople School MIS Support, Hoople Health & Safety, and Hoople Community Equipment Service (the last added in August 2025 after absorbing the team from NRS Healthcare). The company's primary customers are UK local authorities (notably the three shareholder/influencer bodies), NHS Trusts, schools and academies, with secondary reach into private-sector businesses, charities, and individuals needing care or independent-living support.

Hoople generates revenue through a mix of managed-services contracts (IT, HR & Payroll, Finance, Revenues & Benefits, Building Maintenance & Cleaning, Care, Community Equipment) with public-sector and education customers, transaction-based recruitment placement fees (powered by an Eploy-hosted portal at recruitment.hoopleltd.co.uk with social login and Indeed job distribution), training course fees (including ILM-recognised, ESFA-funded and Skills Boost courses), and care/equipment service fees. Pricing is quote-based and contract-based rather than list-published, with billing tied to multi-year managed-services arrangements. Distribution is dominated by direct, relationship-led enterprise sales into public-sector shareholders and framework customers (GCA, Schools Buying Portal, Skills Boost), supplemented by a self-serve recruitment portal for candidates and event/sponsorship-led community engagement.

The supporting technology stack is largely commodity SaaS: the Eploy recruitment platform (ASP.NET) hosted behind Cloudflare load balancing and authenticated via Google SSO for the recruitment portal; Microsoft Office 365 as the internal productivity stack; Google Analytics on the public website; social-login integrations with Facebook, X and LinkedIn; and an Eventbrite-hosted Schools Services Q&A series. Hoople's technology differentiation lies more in vertical domain expertise — School MIS support, Revenues & Benefits process design, tablet deployments for library digital engagement — than in proprietary AI or software IP. Accreditations (REC, CQC 'Good', Ofsted 'Good', ILM Direct Claim Status, Skills Boost approved provider, GCA framework supplier, GDPR/UK GDPR with ICO registration Z2629613) collectively constitute a regulatory moat that smaller competitors would struggle to replicate.

Name

Hoople

Legal name

Hoople Ltd

Website

https://hoopleltd.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Hoople Ltd is a Hereford, UK private company operating a portfolio of 11+ shared services (IT, Training, Recruitment, HR & Payroll, Finance, Care, Cleaning, School MIS, Community Equipment) for UK local authorities, NHS Trusts, schools, and the private and charity sectors, influenced by Herefordshire Council, Wye Valley NHS Trust and Lincolnshire County Council.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hereford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Public-sector managed services contracts: Hoople delivers IT, HR & Payroll, Finance, Revenues & Benefits, Building Maintenance & Cleaning, Health & Safety and School MIS services to local authorities (notably Herefordshire Council and Lincolnshire County Council) and NHS Trusts (Wye Valley NHS Trust) under service-level / managed-services arrangements. Revenue is largely recurring contract income tied to these shareholder-influenced relationships.
2. Recruitment placement fees: Permanent, contract and temporary placement of professional, skilled people into private and public sectors, operated through the Eploy recruitment portal with roles ranging from cleaning to social work, teachers and HR. Placement / supply-teacher fees generate transaction revenue.
3. Training course delivery: Delivery of specialist mandatory training, first aid, vocational skills and professional development, including ESFA-funded training, ILM qualifications with Direct Claim Status, and Skills Boost approved-provider courses, generating course / certification revenue.
4. Care services (residential and home care): High-quality residential services (e.g., Ridgemoor Road, eight-bed home for adults with learning disabilities) and home-care services across Herefordshire, fee-based / local-authority-funded care provision.
5. Community Equipment Service supply: Supply of equipment to support independent living across Herefordshire (transferred to Hoople from NRS Healthcare on 1 August 2025), generating equipment supply and service revenue.
6. Finance, court appointee and deputyship services: Provision of accounts payable, debt collection, court appointee and deputyship and schools financial services to clients on a service-fee basis.
7. Online DBS disclosure payments: Hoople operates online payment for DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks with UK-only delivery (including Northern Ireland) and standard cancellation/refund terms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels16 records

Core offering

Hoople is a Hereford-based, multi-service shared-services organisation that delivers IT, Training, Study Programme, Recruitment, HR & Payroll, Finance, Revenues & Benefits, Care, Building Maintenance and Cleaning, School MIS Support, Health & Safety, and Community Equipment services. Customers are principally UK local authorities (notably Herefordshire Council and Lincolnshire County Council), NHS Trusts (Wye Valley NHS Trust), schools and academies, with additional private-sector and charity clients.

Product overview

Hoople Ltd (Hoople Group) is a public-sector-focused shared services organisation based in Hereford, UK (registered company 7556595), influenced by Herefordshire Council, Wye Valley NHS Trust and Lincolnshire County Council. Rather than a single unified product, Hoople operates as a multi-service portfolio — a platform of distinct service lines delivered to local-authority shareholders, NHS partners, schools, private-sector clients and charities. The portfolio centres on IT Services, Training (including ILM-recognised programmes), the Ofsted-rated Study Programme for 16–19 year-olds, Recruitment (REC-accredited, Eploy-powered portal), HR & Payroll, Finance, Revenues & Benefits, Care (CQC-regulated residential and home-care services), Building Maintenance and Cleaning, School MIS Support Services, Health & Safety advisory, and the Community Equipment Service for independent living. Supporting the portfolio are two school-facing digital access points — the Schools Portal (a free information/resource hub promoted through Q&A events booked via Eventbrite) and the Schools Buying Portal (a transactional channel referenced in Hoople's privacy notice) — which together connect schools into the underlying service modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hoople IT Services: IT services delivered to local authorities, healthcare and public sector organisations.
• Hoople Training
• Hoople Recruitment
• Hoople Care
• Hoople Study Programme
• Hoople Building Maintenance

Products and services

• IT Services Delivers efficient and secure technologies for local authorities, healthcare organisations and the wider public sector, including digital engagement deployments (e.g., tablet installations at Herefordshire libraries) and cyber/IT support.
• Training Delivers training courses for all sectors, from specialist mandatory training and first aid to vocational skills and professional development, including ILM-recognised leadership programmes and free CPR/Restart a Heart sessions.
• Study Programme A tailored study programme preparing young people aged 16-19, including those with social, emotional and mental health needs who have struggled in mainstream school, for further education or employment. Rated 'Good' by Ofsted.
• Recruitment Places professional, skilled candidates in permanent, contract and temporary roles across private and public sectors; REC-accredited and named on the GCA Teachers and Education Recruitment framework. Operates an online recruitment portal powered by the Eploy platform.
• HR & Payroll Provides tailored HR and payroll packages covering the full employee lifecycle from recruitment through to retirement, delivered to shareholders, schools and national clients.
• Finance Provides financial services including accounts payable, debt collection, court appointee and deputyship services, and schools financial services.
• Revenues & Benefits An award-winning provider of local-authority Revenues & Benefits support, handling public payment services using proactive systems and procedures.
• Care Delivers high-quality care services across Herefordshire, supporting people to live as independently as possible in their own homes or within Hoople's residential services, including Ridgemoor Road, an eight-bed residential service for adults with learning disabilities rated 'Good' by the CQC.
• Building Maintenance and Cleaning Provides efficient and effective building maintenance, small property works and cleaning services for council-owned locations and service users, including school cleaning contracts across Herefordshire.
• School MIS Support Services Delivers management information systems and finance solutions to schools and academies, helping them maintain accurate information efficiently.
• Health & Safety Health and safety advisory service that helps organisations stay compliant and adopt best practices across all aspects of health and safety management.
• Community Equipment Service Supplies a wide range of equipment designed to support independent living for people in need across Herefordshire. The service team transferred from NRS Healthcare to Hoople on 1 August 2025.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tablet-based digital engagement equipment deployed across at least 6 Herefordshire library sites (Hereford, Leominster, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye, Kington and Colwall) plus outreach equipment for the wider community, as part of Herefordshire Council Libraries Service project funded by Arts Council England.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and core.

• Government Commercial Agency (GCA)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 June 2026Hoople has been named as a supplier on GCA's Teachers and Education Recruitment framework. The framework provides reassurance to schools, colleges and other education establishments that approved suppliers have met standards for appointing teachers and education support staff. Announced 24 June 2026.
• St Michael's HospiceminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 November 2025Hoople sponsors St Michael's Hospice 'Light up a Life' remembrance events, with sponsorship announced 20 November 2025.
• Skills BoostcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 August 2025Hoople Training became an approved provider for Skills Boost, a funding programme to help organisations with the costs of upskilling and training their employees. Announced 6 August 2025.
• Maylord OrchardsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 April 2025Hoople Recruitment partners with Maylord Orchards to run an annual Summer Jobs Fair bringing together employers and job seekers from across Herefordshire (e.g., 28 April 2025).
• Marches Family NetworkminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 31 March 2025Hoople sponsored the Marches Family Network running team in challenges taking place in April 2025, supporting a local charity through shirt sponsorship (announced 31 March 2025).
• Care Leavers CovenantminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 September 2024Hoople has signed the Care Leavers Covenant to help care leavers live independently (announced 12 September 2024); Hoople publishes a Care Leaver Covenant document in its document library.
• Herefordshire School GamesminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 26 June 2024Hoople is event sponsor of the Herefordshire School Games for the 5th year (announced 26 June 2025), a brand-led community engagement partnership targeting schools and families.
• Herefordshire CouncilflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoople Ltd (registered number 7556595) is influenced by Herefordshire Council. Herefordshire Council is both a shareholder / influencer of Hoople and the primary commissioning local authority for many of Hoople's services, including IT, HR & Payroll, Finance, Revenues & Benefits, Building Maintenance & Cleaning, School MIS Support and Community Equipment Service. Hoople IT Services also supports Herefordshire Council Libraries Service with tablet/digital engagement equipment rollout.
• Wye Valley NHS TrustflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoople Ltd is influenced by Wye Valley NHS Trust alongside Herefordshire Council (and later Lincolnshire County Council). The Trust is a shareholder / influencer and a key public-sector customer for Hoople's services.
• Lincolnshire County CouncilflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLincolnshire County Council is listed alongside Herefordshire Council and Wye Valley NHS Trust as a body that influences Hoople Ltd, signalling a strategic, multi-region public-sector partnership footprint.
• Institute of Leadership Management (ILM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHoople Training delivers ILM courses and has achieved Direct Claim Status following an EQA inspection (announced 1 July 2025), accelerating learner certification.
• EployflagshipTechnology or IntegrationEploy powers the Hoople recruitment portal (recruitment.hoopleltd.co.uk), providing applicant tracking, candidate registration, social login, saved jobs, and CV upload. Eploy sets session, consent, language and timezone cookies on the portal. The portal is described as 'Powered by Eploy'.
• Microsoft (Office 365)coreTechnology or IntegrationHoople publishes a Microsoft Office 365 Privacy Notice (v1.2) covering its use of Microsoft Office 365 as its productivity and collaboration stack, indicating Microsoft as a core technology vendor.
• IndeedcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHoople Recruitment uses Indeed as a job-distribution channel and conversion tracker (30-day cookie) to drive applications to its recruitment portal.
• CloudflarecoreTechnology or IntegrationCloudflare is used for load balancing on the Eploy-hosted recruitment portal, with a session cookie (_cflb) used to distribute traffic.
• Google (Analytics + SSO)coreTechnology or IntegrationHoople uses Google Analytics on its public website to measure site usage and Google Single Sign-On on its recruitment portal to allow candidates to log in with their Google accounts.
• Herefordshire Wildlife TrustminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHoople became a corporate member of Herefordshire Wildlife Trust to support their work to restore nature and inspire people of all ages to take action to defend Herefordshire's wildlife (announced 15 May 2024).
• NRS Healthcare (predecessor)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Community Equipment Service, previously run by NRS Healthcare on behalf of Herefordshire Council, was transferred to Hoople on 1 August 2025 — the Community Equipment Service team formally joined Hoople.
• Schools Buying PortalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHoople references the Schools Buying Portal in its Privacy Policy, indicating that schools can purchase Hoople goods or services via this procurement channel.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Mitie Group plc: Mitie is a UK facilities management and professional services outsourcer delivering cleaning, building maintenance, security, engineering and front-line public services to councils, NHS trusts and schools. Directly comparable on building maintenance, cleaning, security-adjacent and public-sector facilities contracts, though Mitie is a national player versus Hoople's regional scope.
• National Care Group: National Care Group is a UK provider of residential care, supported living and home care for adults with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs. Directly comparable to Hoople Care's Ridgemoor Road residential service and broader home-care offering for Herefordshire adults with learning disabilities.
• Mears Group plc: Mears is a UK-listed provider of home care, supported living, community equipment and housing maintenance services, with significant local-authority contracts. Highly comparable on Hoople Care's residential and home-care services and the Community Equipment Service, both of which are council-commissioned and operate in similar demographics.
• Shaw Trust: Shaw Trust is a UK not-for-profit social enterprise delivering employment services, training, skills programmes, education and disability services commissioned by DWP, councils and NHS. Comparable to Hoople's Training, Study Programme and Recruitment service lines, particularly the publicly-funded skills and 16-19 provision pathways.

Broad incumbents

• Hays plc: Hays is a UK-listed global recruitment firm with a strong public-sector practice placing into local government, NHS, education and social care. Comparable on recruitment placement-fee revenue and on the professional/skilled candidate pool Hoople serves, though Hays operates nationally and internationally.
• Computacenter plc: Computacenter is a UK-listed enterprise IT services provider serving public sector, healthcare and education customers with infrastructure, cloud, security and managed services. Comparable on Hoople IT Services' delivery to local authorities and NHS trusts, particularly on infrastructure deployment and managed IT contracts, at significantly larger scale.
• REED Specialist Recruitment: REED is one of the largest UK recruitment firms, placing permanent, temporary and contract candidates across public and private sectors including education, healthcare and local government. Comparable on Hoople Recruitment's transaction-fee model and REC-aligned quality standards, but REED is national-scale versus Hoople's regional remit.
• Compass Group plc: Compass Group is a global contract food services and support services outsourcer with a UK public-sector business serving schools, hospitals and government buildings. Comparable to Hoople on facilities/cleaning contracts in council and education settings, though Compass operates at vastly greater scale and primarily through food services.
• Serco Group plc: Serco is a UK-listed global public services operator with significant local-authority, NHS, education and defence contracts spanning facilities, healthcare, recruitment and citizen services. Comparable business model of multi-service public-sector outsourcing, but international scale and broader sector exposure than Hoople's regional focus.
• Capita plc: Capita is a major UK-based public-sector outsourcing and professional services company delivering IT, HR, payroll, recruitment, customer management and learning services to central and local government, NHS and education customers. Overlapping service portfolio with Hoople, but at vastly greater scale and with national reach rather than Herefordshire/Lincolnshire focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hoopleltd
• Facebookfacebook.com/hoopleltd
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/hooplegroup

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Hoople