What Hydrogen Group does

Hydrogen Group is a global specialist recruitment and workforce solutions firm founded in 1997 and headquartered in London (One New Change, EC4M 9AF). The company operates across five core disciplines — Transformation, Engineering, Legal, Life Sciences, and Technology — delivering permanent placements, contract staffing, Managed Service Provider (MSP) engagements, Project RPO, and Statement of Work arrangements to enterprise clients in 67+ countries across five continents. Following its October 2020 delisting from the London AIM market, the firm operates as Hydrogen Group Ltd, a privately held company controlled by management and the board under CEO Hayley Still. Disclosed FY2025 annual turnover is £69.8m per the Modern Slavery Act Statement.

The company generates revenue through three primary streams: success-fee-based permanent placements, contractor margin on temporary/contract staffing (processed via the InTime portal with payment routed through a Preferred Supplier List of umbrella companies), and professional services including MSP, RPO, and SOW engagements. The technology stack comprises a centralised recruitment platform with candidate database and CRM, the Force24 marketing automation platform for email/SMS engagement tracking, and the InTime contractor portal for timesheet and expense management. AI capabilities are deployed for candidate screening/shortlisting, workforce planning, DE&I analytics, and bias detection, integrated into SOW and Project RPO delivery. The firm operates sub-brands Argyll Scott (APAC), Evolvient Capital (finance), and Project Partners (IR35 compliance) alongside wholly-owned subsidiaries Hydrogen International Limited and Hydrogen Professional Limited.

Hydrogen Group serves enterprise clients across financial services, technology, life sciences, entertainment, telecommunications, and sports. Named logos include Standard Life, Lloyds Bank, Phoenix Group, BT, NBA, Warner Bros, and Formula 1, with a reported 90% repeat-engagement rate in technology placements and 70% of tech placements sourced from existing networks. Physical infrastructure includes offices in London, Edinburgh, Zug, Sydney, and seven US cities (Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco).

Name

Hydrogen Group

Legal name

Hydrogen Group Ltd

Website

https://hydrogengroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Hydrogen Group is a global specialist recruitment and workforce solutions firm founded in 1997, providing permanent, contract, MSP, and RPO staffing across Transformation, Engineering, Legal, Life Sciences, and Technology disciplines for enterprise clients in 67+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Permanent Recruitment: Fee-based permanent placement services where clients pay a success fee upon hiring a candidate placed by Hydrogen. The company connects clients with exceptional talent across multiple sectors globally.
2. Contract/Contingent Staffing: Temporary and contract staffing solutions providing mid to senior technical, contracting and permanent staffing. Revenue generated through markup on contractor wages, managed through the InTime portal for timesheet processing and Self Bill payment processes.
3. Talent Solutions & MSP: Managed Service Provider (MSP) solutions providing end-to-end streamlined services for onboarding contract resources, along with Project RPO and Statement of Work arrangements for workforce solutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Hydrogen Group is a specialist recruitment firm that places permanent and contract candidates across five verticals — Transformation, Engineering, Legal, Life Sciences, and Technology — for enterprise clients globally. The company combines front-end talent acquisition (executive search, contingent and retained recruitment, contract staffing) with back-end workforce solutions (MSP, Project RPO, Statement of Work, outsourced payroll) and IR35 compliance support via its Project Partners sister brand. It operates from regional offices in the UK, US, Australia, Switzerland, and APAC, and runs the InTime portal for contractor timesheets and the Force24 marketing automation platform for audience engagement.

Product overview

Hydrogen Group operates as a global talent acquisition and workforce solutions company offering a unified recruitment platform with multiple service modules. The core offerings include Talent Solutions and Recruitment Services, supported by specialized add-on modules including Managed Service Provider (MSP), Project RPO, Statement of Work (SOW), Permanent Recruitment, Contract Recruitment, Exclusive Search, Retained Search, Contingent Search, Market Mapping, Salary & Rate Benchmarking, Branded Advertising, Candidate Engagement Events, Outsourced Payroll Solutions, Delivery Benchmarking, and IR35 Compliance Services. The company places talent across five key disciplines: Transformation, Engineering, Legal, Life Sciences, and Technology. Under the Hydrogen Group umbrella, the company operates sub-brands Argyll Scott (APAC), Evolvient Capital (finance), and Project Partners (IR35 compliance). Additional offerings include Future Tech Podcast/Newsletter and the Legal Salary Guide. The portfolio architecture enables clients to access standalone services or integrated end-to-end workforce solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Argyll Scott: Part of Hydrogen Group Ltd, operating as a recruitment brand
• Evolvient Capital
• Project Partners

Products and services

• Permanent Recruitment Direct hire staffing solutions placing candidates in permanent positions across all disciplines and sectors (Transformation, Engineering, Legal, Life Sciences, Technology). Fees are success-based, paid upon successful placement.
• Contract Recruitment Temporary and contract staffing solutions for mid-to-senior technical and professional roles, including IR35 compliance support and payment options via PSC, PAYE scheme, or Umbrella Company. Managed through the InTime portal for timesheet processing and Self Bill payment processes.
• Exclusive Search

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of technology clients are so satisfied with services that they choose Hydrogen again
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Project PartnerssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject Partners is described as Hydrogen Group's 'sister company' providing solutions to help mitigate the effects of IR35 for clients. The partnership offers knowledge transfer and complete IR35 solutions working alongside Hydrogen's recruitment services.
• Argyll ScottcoreOthersArgyll Scott is a brand under Hydrogen Group Ltd operating primarily in APAC region (Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Vietnam) for legal and professional recruitment services. Part of the Hydrogen Group family of brands including also Evolvient Capital.
• Evolvient CapitalsupportingOthersEvolvient Capital is a brand under Hydrogen Group Ltd focused on recruitment services. Listed alongside Argyll Scott as part of Hydrogen Group's portfolio of brands.
• Force24supportingTechnology or IntegrationForce24 is Hydrogen Group's marketing automation platform enabling audience engagement tracking, email and SMS marketing optimization. First-party cookies (F24_autoID, F24_personID) are enabled at point of cookie acceptance for better marketing activity optimization.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Spring Professional: International specialist recruitment firm focused on IT, Engineering, and Life Sciences. Comparable vertical specialisation and mid-market positioning in Europe and APAC.

Direct peers

• Hays plc: Global publicly listed recruitment group with comparable multi-sector, multi-geography white-collar staffing across professional disciplines. Overlaps directly with Hydrogen's Transformation, Engineering, Life Sciences, and Technology verticals.
• Harvey Nash Group: Technology, digital, and business transformation recruitment and solutions provider. Direct overlap with Hydrogen's Technology and Transformation verticals and similar MSP/RPO offerings.
• Robert Walters plc: UK-listed professional recruitment firm specialising in white-collar placement across Legal, Technology, Life Sciences, and Engineering. Closely comparable mid-market international footprint and disciplined specialisation.
• Michael Page International: Large publicly listed professional recruitment group operating across multiple disciplines and geographies. Directly comparable permanent and contract placement services in Technology, Legal, and Life Sciences.
• CPL Resources plc: Irish-listed recruitment and workforce solutions group with multi-sector specialist divisions across Technology, Life Sciences, Legal, and Engineering. Comparable vertical specialisation and European base.
• Morgan McKinley: Global professional services recruitment firm with strong APAC presence in Legal, Finance, and Technology. Particularly comparable in Hydrogen's APAC legal franchise via the Argyll Scott brand.
• SThree plc: STEM-focused contract and permanent staffing firm with global delivery model. Comparable in Technology, Engineering, and Life Sciences contract placement, particularly within European capital projects.

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half International: Large US-headquartered professional staffing firm placing finance, legal, technology, and administrative talent. Comparable white-collar discipline mix and contract/permanent model.
• ManpowerGroup: Global workforce solutions incumbent offering permanent, contract, MSP/RPO, and talent reskilling. Comparable enterprise sales motion and MSP offering but at substantially larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HydrogenGroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/hydrogengroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hydrogen-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/hydrogen_recruitment

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Hydrogen Group