What is recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)?

RPO means handing your recruitment - some of it or all of it - to a specialist provider who runs it as an extension of your business. At Vermelo that covers sourcing, screening, assessment, offer management and onboarding, delivered under your brand. You keep strategic control; we run the engine. It's built for businesses hiring at volume who want quality and speed without an ever-growing agency bill.

What's the difference between RPO and MSP?

RPO manages your permanent hiring; MSP (managed service provider) manages your contractor and contingent workforce - the suppliers, the rates, the onboarding and the IR35 compliance. Plenty of businesses need both, which is where a total talent programme comes in: one partner, one data set, both sides of your hiring covered.

What is embedded recruitment (RaaS)?

Embedded recruitment - sometimes called Recruiter-as-a-Service - places experienced recruiters directly inside your team. They use your systems, carry your brand and represent you to candidates, but you switch the capacity on and off as hiring demand changes. It's the answer to hiring spikes that don't justify permanent headcount but do outgrow your current team.

How much does RPO cost compared to using recruitment agencies?

There's no single number, and anyone who gives you one without asking questions is guessing. What we can say: RPO replaces unpredictable per-placement agency fees with a model you can budget - typically a management fee, a cost-per-hire arrangement or a blend, shaped around your volumes. For most businesses hiring at scale, that means a meaningfully lower cost-per-hire and a number the CFO can actually forecast. Book a discovery call and we'll model it against what you're spending now.

Do you handle IR35 and FCA compliance?

Yes - it's designed into the model rather than added afterwards. Our MSP solution manages IR35 status determinations, right-to-work checks and supplier standards across your contractor workforce, and our screening services cover FCA pre-employment and annual maintenance checks for regulated businesses. We're not lawyers and don't replace your own legal advice, but compliance is the reason many regulated firms come to us in the first place.

How quickly can you get started?

Faster than you'd think. Embedded recruiters can usually be turned round in a matter of days; a full RPO or MSP programme takes longer to stand up properly, because doing it properly matters. Tell us what's urgent and we'll tell you honestly what's achievable - that conversation costs nothing.

VERMELO | LEGAL & REGULATORY RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS

TWO ROUTES TO LEGAL AND REGULATORY TALENT

Legal and regulatory hiring reaches our group by two distinct routes, and it serves nobody to blur them.

If you are a regulated business building legal, compliance or regulatory capability inside your organisation, an insurer growing its compliance function, a fintech hiring its first regulatory specialists, a financial services firm scaling in-house legal, that is Vermelo: legal and regulatory hiring delivered inside our talent programmes.

If you are a law firm hiring solicitors and fee earners, or you need a specialist legal recruitment agency for individual appointments, that is our sister brand Gerrard White Consulting, which recruits legal talent across London and the South East.

‍Same group, two very different jobs.

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Where Vermelo can help

In-house solicitors and legal counsel
Compliance specialists and officers
Regulatory affairs professionals
Paralegals and legal operations
Risk and governance roles. The people who keep regulated businesses on the right side of complex regulatory environments.

How we deliver it

Embedded Recruitment (RaaS) when a compliance or legal function needs to grow quickly, with recruiters who understand that these candidates scrutinise an employer's rigour more than most
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) where legal and regulatory hiring is part of a wider volume programme
Talent Advisory for the design work: screening frameworks, regulatory referencing processes, assessment for conduct-sensitive roles
Managed Service Provider (MSP) for interim legal and compliance contractors, engaged compliantly

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For law firms:

Contact Gerrard White Consulting, our sister brand, for your hiring needs across London and the South East.

Answers to some common questions

Here’s some frequently asked questions, if you still have questions it is easier to discuss over a call:

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Usually embedded recruitment to start: a recruiter inside your business who understands the compliance talent market, building the team under your brand. If the function keeps growing, the engagement grows with it. We will scope it honestly, including the market reality on salaries and availability, before you commit to anything.
Yes. For roles within FCA-regulated businesses, regulatory references and conduct requirements are part of our standard process. It is a large part of why regulated firms work with us in the first place.
Honestly, no, and we would rather redirect you than waste your time. Law firm recruitment is Gerrard White Consulting, our specialist legal recruitment sister brand covering London and the South East. Start there.