Serco Partners with Offploy to Transform Inclusive Recruitment at Scale

When a company as deeply woven into the fabric of UK life as Serco takes a bold step toward inclusive recruitment, the impact extends far beyond its own workforce. With more than 30,000 roles across the country, spanning everything from sanitation to satellites, Serco’s new partnership with Offploy represents a monumental shift in how opportunities are created and shared across society.

This isn’t a pilot or a token gesture. It’s one of the UK’s largest service providers, emphasising the importance of inclusive recruitment, and they’re committed to making it work at scale.

A Partnership Built on Shared Commitment

Serco has consistently recognised its responsibility as a major employer. With operations spanning everything from transport services to facilities management, they've built their reputation on delivering essential services that keep communities running. 

But Serco also understands that its influence extends beyond contracts and service delivery. It reaches into the communities where they recruit, work, and make a difference.

This isn't about starting from scratch. Like many forward-thinking organisations, Serco already had solid foundations for inclusive recruitment. Their partnership with Offploy is about building upon those foundations to create something even more substantial, a comprehensive approach that can work consistently across their diverse operations.

Shaun Stacey, Serco’s HR Director for UK and Europe, said:

“This partnership is about creating a model that other large employers can learn from. With our scale and reach and Offploy's proven methodology, we think this has the potential to influence an entire sector's approach to inclusiverecruitment. It represents more than training.

To Serco, our Pathways Programme is not a side-project, we are ensuring inclusive recruitment is an integral part of our processes and culture."

Creating Opportunities at Scale

The scale of Serco’s workforce means that even modest shifts in policy can unlock opportunities for a large group of people with prior convictions, creating pathways into sustainable employment, reducing reoffending, and strengthening communities across the UK.

When a company like Serco embraces inclusive recruitment, it demonstrates that size and complexity are no barriers to doing the right thing. In fact, they become an opportunity to set a new standard for others to follow.

Offploy’s Support: Three Key Areas

This partnership is built on Offploy’s proven approach, which supports employers in three critical areas:

Legal & Compliance	Recruitment & Retention	Social Value & Business Development
Ensuring that recruitment processes are not only fair but also fully aligned with the latest employment and criminal record legislation.	Helping Serco attract talented individuals with prior convictions, while building the systems and support needed to retain and develop them for long-term success.	Embedding inclusive recruitment into Serco’s broader business strategy, strengthening their ability to deliver on social value commitments while enhancing workforce resilience.

Seeing the Bigger Picture

Serco's commitment comes at a time when employers across the UK are recognising that inclusive recruitment isn't just morally right, it's strategically essential. With skills shortages affecting multiple sectors, organisations that limit their talent pools risk missing out on exceptional employees.

27% of all UK vacancies are now skills-shortage vacancies (GOV 2024), while 65% of facilities management employers report difficulty finding individuals with the required technical skills (2022 ProFMI Survey). For a company operating across healthcare support, transport services, and government contracts, these statistics represent both a significant challenge and a compelling business case for broadening recruitment approaches.

Building An Inclusive Culture That Lasts

What's particularly exciting about this partnership is its long-term focus. The program is designed not only to train teams, but also to embed practices, create internal advocates, and build the systems necessary for sustained success.

For both organisations, this partnership represents something important: the belief that when you combine genuine commitment with proper expertise and sufficient time, you can create change that benefits everyone involved, employers, employees, and the communities they serve.

What Happens Next

As Serco and Offploy begin their partnership, they are creating a model that other large employers can learn from. The combination of Serco's scale and reach with Offploy's proven methodology has the potential to influence an entire sector's approach to inclusive recruitment.

The partnership proves that when organisations are serious about inclusive recruitment, they invest the time and resources needed to do it properly. It represents more than training; it represents transformation, sustainability, and the kind of lasting change that creates opportunities for individuals while strengthening businesses.