Searchability®
Searchability® is a UK-headquartered specialist technology recruitment agency providing permanent, contract, retained, and RPO services across 14+ tech specialisms via its proprietary AI platform Tia, serving enterprise and mid-market clients across five global locations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersChester, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Searchability® does
Searchability® is a UK-headquartered specialist recruitment agency focused exclusively on technology and digital roles, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Chester with international offices in the USA, Australia, UAE, and Europe. The company provides permanent, contract, retained, and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services across 14+ tech specialisms — including cyber security, AI/ML/data science, cloud and DevOps, software engineering, software testing, and national security-cleared positions — serving enterprise clients such as Capgemini and Northrop Grumman alongside mid-market firms like Missoma and Treefera. Distribution is hybrid: enterprise field sales via dedicated account managers, inside sales for UK mid-market, and a freemium self-service platform (Tia) for SMBs and individual employers, supported by content-led and community-led demand generation across tech MeetUps, podcasts (The Holler Pod), and a 200K+ social following.
The proprietary technology backbone is Tia, an AI-powered 360° recruitment assistant that provides generative job description creation, smart candidate-to-role matching scores, a mini ATS, a CV Builder, video integration for assessments, and an integrated Gender Bias Decoder for DE&I-compliant hiring. Searchability also operates adjacent brands: Holler for employer branding and DE&I consultancy, Klickstarters for graduate recruitment, Hirecracker for multi-sector and veteran recruitment, and Searchability NSD for national security and defence. The firm monetises primarily through transaction-based placement fees (permanent and contract), subscription-based RPO/scalability engagements, professional services for employer branding and DE&I consultancy, and ancillary revenue from annual salary benchmarking reports and a candidate referral scheme.
In April 2025, Searchability (UK) Ltd transitioned to 100% employee ownership via an Employee Ownership Trust, replacing founder ownership and aligning the workforce with long-term firm performance. The business carries no disclosed external venture capital or private equity funding, operates a 100K+ CRM candidate database, and has accumulated 850+ Trustpilot reviews rated #1 for tech recruitment in the UK.
Searchability® firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Searchability®
- Legal name
- Searchability (UK) Ltd
- Website
- https://searchability.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Searchability® is a UK-headquartered specialist technology recruitment agency providing permanent, contract, retained, and RPO services across 14+ tech specialisms via its proprietary AI platform Tia, serving enterprise and mid-market clients across five global locations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Searchability® industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Tech Recruitment Services
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search (BPACAAAK), C-Suite & Board Search (BPACAAAA)
Keywords
Where Searchability® is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chester
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Searchability® business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Permanent Recruitment: Contingent permanent placement recruitment where clients pay nothing until the candidate starts. Fee is typically a percentage of the candidate's annual salary with a rebate period if the candidate leaves within a specified timeframe.
- Contract/Contractor Recruitment: Contract staffing where contractors are placed with clients. Searchability manages payroll and timesheet processing for contractors.
- Retained Search: Exclusive retained search engagements for senior or specialized tech roles, typically involving upfront retainers and contingency fees.
- Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO): Hybrid RPO solutions and scalability subscription services for organizations looking to outsource part or all of their recruitment functions.
- Employer Branding Services (Holler): Sister brand 'Holler' provides employer branding consultancy services including employer brand audits, DE&I benefit and culture reviews, and digital presence optimization.
- DE&I Consultancy: Diversity and inclusion consultancy services including recruitment support with bias-free sourcing, gender bias decoder tools, and targeted marketing campaigns.
- Market Insights & Salary Reports: Annual market insights and salary guides for UK tech market (100+ job functions) sold to employers and candidates.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | One time/ perpetual license | Permanent Recruitment - Contingent |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Contract Recruitment |
| Subscription | Annual | RPO/Scalability Subscription |
| Transaction based/ take rate | One time/ perpetual license | Candidate Referral Scheme |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Tia AI Platform - Job Board Posting |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Searchability® product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Searchability® is a technology and digital recruitment agency that supplies permanent, contract, and retained hires to tech employers across the UK, USA, Australia, UAE, and Europe. It complements its core recruitment services with RPO/Hybrid solutions (TaaS), employer branding (Holler), DE&I consultancy, graduate hiring (Klickstarters), multi-sector hiring (Hirecracker), and national security & defence recruitment (Searchability NSD), plus an AI-driven platform (Tia) and supporting tools such as BriefBuild and a Reference Checking Platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Tia: AI-powered 360° IT recruitment assistant built to help consultants perform smarter, employers hire faster, and candidates navigate opportunities more effectively.
Products and services
- Permanent Recruitment Contingent permanent placement service for tech and digital roles across UK, USA, Australia, UAE, and Europe, billed via success fees.
- Contract Recruitment Contract and temporary tech staffing service for short- and long-term technology projects, billed via contract margins.
- Retained Search Retained executive and senior tech search service billed via upfront retainer, for hard-to-fill leadership and specialist technology roles.
- RPO / Hybrid Solutions (TaaS) Recruitment Process Outsourcing and hybrid TaaS engagements providing embedded, subscription-based recruiting teams for ongoing tech hiring.
- Holler Employer Branding Employer branding sub-brand offering EVP development, employer brand strategy, creative content, and brand campaigns to enterprise and mid-market tech employers.
- DE&I Consultancy Diversity, equity, and inclusion consultancy including Gender Bias Decoder tooling, helping employers build inclusive hiring processes.
- Klickstarters Graduate Recruitment Graduate and apprentice tech recruitment sub-brand providing early-career hiring solutions for companies running tech graduate programmes.
- Hirecracker Multi-Sector Recruitment Multi-sector recruitment sub-brand offering hiring services across tech-adjacent and broader industry verticals.
- Searchability NSD (National Security & Defence) National security and defence recruitment sub-brand providing security-cleared and vetted tech talent to public and private sector employers.
- Tia AI Recruitment Platform Proprietary AI recruitment platform that automates job description creation, matches candidates to roles, manages applications, and includes the Gender Bias Decoder for inclusive hiring.
- Market Insights & Salary Reports Annual tech salary benchmarking and market intelligence report covering UK and global tech hiring trends, salary benchmarks, and market commentary.
Quantifiable outcome
- 850+ 5-star reviews on Trustpilot, 98% of candidates rating 5 stars
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Searchability®
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Searchability® technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature5 records
Searchability® partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Searchability® competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Eightfold AI: AI-native Talent Intelligence Platform used by large enterprises for sourcing, matching and DE&I — an emerging alternative to traditional agencies like Searchability for in-house tech hiring.
- LinkedIn (Talent Solutions / Recruiter): Dominant AI-augmented sourcing channel and employer brand surface for tech hiring; competes with Searchability as an alternative fulfilment path for enterprise and mid-market clients.
Broad incumbents
- Akkodis (formerly Modis): Akkodis is the technology and engineering services arm of Adecco, specialising in IT staffing and digital talent solutions — a much larger global incumbent targeting the same employer-base as Searchability.
- Hays: Global FTSE-listed recruitment group with a significant technology and digital practice across permanent, contract and RPO. Competes for the same enterprise and mid-market tech hiring mandates.
- SThree (Progressive Recruitment, Real Staffing): Global specialist staffing group operating tech-focused brands (Progressive, Real Staffing) across contract and permanent tech hiring — a much larger incumbent in the same niche Searchability serves.
Direct peers
- Computer Futures: UK-founded specialist tech and digital recruitment agency, now part of SThree. Directly comparable on tech-vertical specialism, contract and permanent placement model and UK/European enterprise client base.
- Reed Technology: UK-based technology recruitment division of Reed, focused on permanent and contract IT/tech hires across the UK — same buyer persona, similar service lines, overlapping candidate pool.
- Talentful: Specialist tech and digital recruitment partner operating in the UK and internationally with retained and contingent models — comparable customer profile, specialisation and value proposition to Searchability.
- Harvey Nash: Technology and executive search firm with strong UK presence, also operating in the US and Europe. Highly comparable on tech leadership recruitment, RPO offerings and cross-border client delivery.
- Opus Talent Partners: Specialist recruitment group with dedicated tech, digital, data and transformation practices alongside employer-brand services via OTB — directly comparable tech specialism and brand-led positioning.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Searchability® social profiles
Digital presenceSearchability® financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Searchability® leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Searchability® subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Searchability® funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Searchability® M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Searchability®
What does Searchability® do?
Searchability® is a technology and digital recruitment agency that supplies permanent, contract, and retained hires to tech employers across the UK, USA, Australia, UAE, and Europe. It complements its core recruitment services with RPO/Hybrid solutions (TaaS), employer branding (Holler), DE&I consultancy, graduate hiring (Klickstarters), multi-sector hiring (Hirecracker), and national security & defence recruitment (Searchability NSD), plus an AI-driven platform (Tia) and supporting tools such as BriefBuild and a Reference Checking Platform.
Is Searchability® a public or private company?
Searchability® is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Searchability® founded?
Searchability® was founded in 2012. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Searchability® based?
Searchability® is headquartered in Chester, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Searchability® make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Permanent Recruitment is the primary driver. The others are contract/Contractor Recruitment, retained Search, recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), employer Branding Services (Holler), DE&I Consultancy and market Insights & Salary Reports.
Who are Searchability®'s main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Eightfold AI and LinkedIn (Talent Solutions / Recruiter). Broad incumbents are Akkodis (formerly Modis), Hays and SThree (Progressive Recruitment, Real Staffing). Direct peers are Computer Futures, Reed Technology, Talentful, Harvey Nash and Opus Talent Partners.
Does Searchability® have an API?
No public API is recorded for Searchability®.
What industry is Searchability® in?
Searchability®'s product category is Tech Recruitment Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAPAD, Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS), with a secondary code of BPACAAAK, Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search. Its NAICS code is 56131 and its SIC code is 7361.