Selective Personnel
Selective Personnel is a Scotland-based hospitality staffing agency supplying pre-vetted temporary event staff to hotels, stadiums, racecourses, and venues across the UK, complemented by full-service event management including venue sourcing and catering coordination. Founded in 2011, it serves 100+ venues with operations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Belfast.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersGlasgow, United Kingdom
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Selective Personnel does
Selective Personnel is a UK hospitality staffing and event management agency founded in 2011 by Allan Edgar in Glasgow, Scotland. The company supplies pre-vetted temporary hospitality professionals — including servers, bartenders, baristas, hosts, supervisors, housekeeping staff, kitchen porters, and hospitality managers — to hotels, stadiums, event venues, racecourses, festivals, and corporate functions across Scotland and more broadly across the UK. Headline client placements include high-profile events such as Six Nations rugby at Murrayfield, the Scottish Open, Silverstone F1, and Taylor Swift concerts, with publicly named enterprise customers including Heart of Midlothian Football Club, Elior UK, Constellation, and Ayr Racecourse. The company services over 100 venues in total.
Operationally, Selective Personnel runs a proprietary mobile application that allows staff to browse available shifts, accept assignments, and manage their own schedules — reducing administrative overhead for the agency and providing flexibility for workers. Beyond core staffing, the company offers full-service event management capabilities including venue sourcing, entertainment procurement, bespoke catering coordination, and rapid-response last-minute staffing. Revenue is generated primarily through transactional hourly markups on staff wages (rates ranging from £11.44 to £28.00 per hour depending on role and event prestige), with event management services providing a secondary professional services revenue stream.
The business is sales-led and event-driven: the agency reaches clients through direct outreach to hospitality venues, event organizers, and stadiums, supported by client referrals, industry event participation, and a content/blog presence covering hospitality sector trends. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investment and operates from offices in Edinburgh (headquarters at One Lochrin Square), Glasgow, Ayrshire, Dundee (newly opened May 2025), and Belfast (Northern Ireland). The head office team, led by Allan Edgar (Managing Director) and Hannah Jackson (Director of Growth, joined 2023), has expanded in 2024–2025 with additional staffing operations and payroll hires, indicating an active scaling phase.
Selective Personnel firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Selective Personnel
- Legal name
- Selective Personnel
- Website
- https://selectivepersonnel.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Selective Personnel is a Scotland-based hospitality staffing agency supplying pre-vetted temporary event staff to hotels, stadiums, racecourses, and venues across the UK, complemented by full-service event management including venue sourcing and catering coordination. Founded in 2011, it serves 100+ venues with operations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Belfast.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Selective Personnel industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Hospitality Staffing Services
- NAICS
- Temporary Help Services (561320)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Hospitality & Events Temp Staffing (BPACACAN)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Event Hospitality & VIP Lounge Staff (HSACAEAH), Catering Coordination & Bar Service Management (Non-restaurant) (HSACAAAH), Crowd Management & Queue Management Staff (HSACAEAD), High-Volume / High-Turnover Temp Staffing (BPACACAF)
Keywords
Where Selective Personnel is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Glasgow
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices7 records
Markets served
Selective Personnel business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Temporary Staffing Placement: The company places pre-vetted hospitality staff (servers, bartenders, hosts, baristas, kitchen porters, supervisors, hospitality managers, housekeeping, retail/stadia staff) at client venues for events and ongoing operations. Revenue is generated through markup on staff wages.
- Event Management Services: Beyond staffing, the company offers full event management services including venue sourcing, entertainment procurement, event organization, and bespoke catering coordination. These are value-added services complementing their core staffing business.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Hospitality Staff (Plate Waiters, Drinks/Wine Servers, General Hospitality) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Barista |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Bartender/Cocktail Bartender |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Supervisors and Team Leaders |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Housekeeping Staff |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Kitchen Porter |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Hospitality Manager |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Retail/Stadia Kiosk Staff |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Host/Hostess |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Bar Staff/Servers |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Selective Personnel product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Selective Personnel is a hospitality staffing agency that supplies pre-vetted, trained temporary staff — including plate waiters, drinks/wine servers, bartenders, baristas, hosts, housekeeping staff, kitchen porters, supervisors and hospitality managers — to hotels, stadiums, racecourses, event venues and private functions across the UK. Beyond temporary staffing, the company offers full event management services covering venue sourcing, entertainment procurement and bespoke catering coordination for events of any size.
Product overview
Selective Personnel operates as a hospitality staffing agency and event management company offering a unified portfolio of services. The core offerings consist of Hospitality Staffing Services (providing vetted professionals for front-of-house and back-of-house roles including servers, bartenders, baristas, hosts, supervisors, and managers) and Event Management Services (covering full event organization, venue sourcing, entertainment procurement, and bespoke catering). A key differentiator is their Rapid Response Staffing service for last-minute staffing needs. The company services over 100 venues across the UK, primarily in Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Ayrshire, Central Belt), with additional coverage in London and Northern Ireland.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hospitality Staffing Services Supply of pre-vetted, trained hospitality professionals — including plate waiters, drinks/wine servers, bartenders, baristas, hosts/hostesses, housekeeping staff, kitchen porters, supervisors and hospitality managers — to events, hotels, stadiums, racecourses and venues across the UK.
- Event Management Services Full-service event management covering staffing, venue sourcing, entertainment procurement and bespoke catering coordination for events of all sizes, from small private gatherings to large-scale functions.
- Rapid Response Staffing Last-minute staffing solutions that deploy pre-vetted, trained team members quickly to fill urgent staffing gaps at events and venues.
Quantifiable outcome
- Servicing over 100 venues across the UK
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Selective Personnel
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Selective Personnel technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Selective Personnel partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- HIT Scotland (Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland)coreSelective Personnel renewed their sponsorship partnership with HIT Scotland, a charity that supports hospitality professionals through scholarships, leadership programs, and industry events since 1994. The partnership aligns with Selective Personnel's mission to invest in Scotland's hospitality workforce, supporting talent development and career progression in the sector.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Selective Personnel competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Blue Arrow: UK-wide staffing specialist with a strong hospitality, events, and catering division supplying temporary roles to hotels, stadia, and venues — comparable business model and customer base to Selective Personnel.
- Reed: One of the UK's largest recruitment and staffing groups, with a dedicated Reed Hospitality division that places temporary and permanent hospitality staff across the UK — directly competing for the same venue and event contracts as Selective Personnel.
- Caterer.com: Hospitality-focused job board and recruitment platform in the UK that connects hospitality workers with employers — a more digital-native competitor targeting the same candidate and venue pool.
Broad incumbents
- Gi Group: International staffing firm with a UK hospitality and events vertical — competes for the same enterprise venue and catering clients as Selective Personnel, with broader service portfolio and capital backing.
- Compass Group: World's largest contract foodservice and support services company operating extensively across UK hospitality, stadia, and events — competes for end-catering contracts and increasingly consolidates its own staffing supply chain.
- Adecco UK: Global staffing leader with significant UK operations including hospitality and events segments — a much larger incumbent competing for enterprise hospitality contracts and offering greater geographic and technological depth.
- Sodexo: Global food services and facilities management giant with significant UK hospitality, events, and venue operations — a named customer-adjacent competitor that both buys and competes for hospitality staffing contracts.
Regional players
- HRC Recruitment: Hospitality recruitment specialist operating across the UK and Ireland, including Scotland-focused placements — comparable niche focus on hospitality staffing but with broader geographic and permanent placement offerings.
Emerging players
- Syft: On-demand staffing marketplace specializing in hospitality and events in the UK, using an app-based model for shift fulfillment — a direct digital disruptor to traditional agencies like Selective Personnel.
- Indeed Flex: On-demand hospitality and industrial staffing platform operating in the UK and Ireland, using a mobile-first marketplace model that directly challenges traditional temp agencies like Selective Personnel on speed of placement.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Selective Personnel social profiles
Digital presenceSelective Personnel financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Selective Personnel leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Selective Personnel funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Selective Personnel 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 Selective Personnel
What does Selective Personnel do?
Selective Personnel is a hospitality staffing agency that supplies pre-vetted, trained temporary staff — including plate waiters, drinks/wine servers, bartenders, baristas, hosts, housekeeping staff, kitchen porters, supervisors and hospitality managers — to hotels, stadiums, racecourses, event venues and private functions across the UK. Beyond temporary staffing, the company offers full event management services covering venue sourcing, entertainment procurement and bespoke catering coordination for events of any size.
Is Selective Personnel a public or private company?
Selective Personnel is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Selective Personnel founded?
Selective Personnel was founded in 2011. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Selective Personnel based?
Selective Personnel is headquartered in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Selective Personnel make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Temporary Staffing Placement is the primary driver. The others are event Management Services.
Who are Selective Personnel's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Blue Arrow, Reed and Caterer.com. Broad incumbents are Gi Group, Compass Group, Adecco UK and Sodexo. HRC Recruitment is listed as a regional player. Emerging players are Syft and Indeed Flex.
Does Selective Personnel have an API?
No public API is recorded for Selective Personnel.
What industry is Selective Personnel in?
Selective Personnel's product category is Hospitality Staffing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACACAN, Hospitality & Events Temp Staffing, with a secondary code of HSACAEAH, Event Hospitality & VIP Lounge Staff. Its NAICS code is 561320 and its SIC code is 7361.