Serco has been named the prime contractor for the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) new Armed Forces Recruitment Service (AFRS), replacing Capita in a landmark deal worth up to £1.5 billion over ten years.
This marks the first time that hiring for the Royal Navy, the British Army, the Royal Air Force, and Strategic Command will be managed under one privatised system, delivering an “end-to-end service from candidate attraction through to assessment, enlistment and onboarding,” according to Serco’s official press release on 6 February 2025.
The AFRS contract will last an initial seven years, with the option to extend by up to three further years, resulting in a total potential value of £1.5 billion. Following a 21-month mobilisation phase starting in April 2025, Serco’s new recruitment service is set to launch fully by early 2027.
It signals a shift from previous, service-specific arrangements—particularly Capita’s Army recruitment contract, which had attracted criticism over missed targets—to a comprehensive solution intended to modernise the way the UK Armed Forces attract and enrol new personnel.
Team Serco
Serco will lead a consortium of delivery partners, or “TEAM Serco,” each playing a specialist role:
- Pegasystems – Provides the Recruiting Information Technology System already used by the Royal Navy and RAF, aiming to speed up processes through automation and insights.
- Adecco and Akkodis – Leverage decades of experience in large-scale workforce solutions and digital innovation.
- TMP – The largest UK recruitment marketing agency, with a record of campaigns across hard-to-fill roles and the early careers space.
- Optima Health – Offers employee health assessments nationwide, including over 50 clinics.
- PA Consulting – Advises on transformation within the defence and security ecosystem.
- MPCT – Delivers vocational education and training programmes, focusing on fitness and employability skills.
According to Serco, this integrated approach will “improve the overall candidate experience at the same time as modernising and speeding up the current recruitment process,” partly through a “best-in-class integrated technology” platform and a blended workforce comprising both civilian staff and military personnel.
Significance for the MoD and Future Forces
Mark Irwin, Serco Group Chief Executive, welcomed the contract as “a true privilege,” highlighting Serco’s six-decade relationship with the MoD. He emphasised the “critical importance of recruiting and retaining the right number of well-trained personnel willing to serve and defend their country.”
Anthony Kirby, Serco’s UK & Europe Chief Executive, noted that the award “reflects [Serco’s] broader ability to support members of the Armed Forces on their career journey,” from recruitment and medicals to onboarding and eventually training.
Meanwhile, Capita, which had overseen Army recruitment since 2012, faces a substantial setback after repeated scrutiny over unmet targets.
The government say it aims to tackle these challenges by streamlining recruitment under one overarching service, signalling a major strategic shift in defence personnel management.
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Goodbye Capita, dont let your rs hit the door on the way out…..
When will the government ever learn that these large multi service providers are essentially poor value for money. They are essentially optimised to win contracts and extract profits from the contracts not provide expert knowledge experience and good value in a field.. because all the knowledge was either held by public sector teams they replaced or specialist private sector companies they regularly destroy because they are able to manipulate the contract and commissioning Field of play and market due to their pure size…
I cannot tell you how much I always despised these multiple provider companies.. because you always knew you would be picking up the pieces from them.
Agreed.
I don’t see this as good news.
I understand the RN and RAF still made their own arrangements and Crapita was just Army.
Now it’s the lot.
Will there be any AFCOs with real military people in them?
I agree, except that the civil and public sectors have now become so dysfunctional.
Also, with the Army so small, a couple of thousand used for recruitment would be significant.
Or, quite right, they could get more squaddies to use for recruiting with the money paid for Serco.
Agree, seems like this government hasn’t learned from the previous short comings of crapita. Hopefully they have included results to payments within the contract. Recruitment offices would have been the best solution perhaps staffed with Ex service personnel.
Oh dear. It seems that people like these are out to shaft tax payers for every penny. And the stupid Blob and politicians fall for it every time. More online “computer says no” rather than face to face with young people which is what they need. I really do give up. This country is totally banjaxed.
oh dear indeed. its a shame because i am sure there are young people in uk who would benefit from being part of the forces. the forces should engage with the public and not be putting up recruitment barriers. im an old bloke who did a one way video interview with aldi for entry level position, and never heard from them since.
More of the same isn’t it? If you have people recruiting for an organisation that they do not understand or let’s be honest have no interest in other than the money they can grab,the situation isn’t going to improve!
And one private monopoly replaces the other, the spice must flow.
But it may be (MUST be) a better private monopoly than the last one ? (crosses fingers, touches wood)
I gather that since Trump has banned LGBTQ folk from the miltary – plus the prospect of military action in Panama and Greenland – retention and recruitment have dramatically improved in the US Army. Is there something that the new SoS Defence John Healey could learn from this?
Not really. This is just Trump trying to take credit for others’ work.
The US army shook up its recruiting process a year ago. Key elements were increasing the number of uniformed recruiters by 3,000 and tackling the main problem of applicants being rejected for not meeting physical standards and cognitivc tests. They did so by introducing a pre-enlistment preparatory course and ten nee recruiting centres. This initiative accounts for a quarter of new recruits this year.
The overall result is that army recruitment reached a 12 year high in December – before Trump or Hegseth had any influence on things.
It is perfectly possible that there will be now be a furth influx of gun-toting, homophobic rednecks with highly confuse political agendas. Not sure the US army would really welcome that.
Having worked for these large companies in the past, I can tell you they’re just grabbing contracts to add to their portfolio.
There’s no common sense or integrity. It’s just box ticking and office staff (or working from home usually) who have no idea what they’re doing, but just follow a flow chart.
Outsourced again. We are paying for profit not value.
Catastrophic news, and yet another very poor almost criminally negligent decision taken by people who’s only experience, is that of a corporate world. They even have the gall to advertise how much they will be extorting from the MOD budget! So… no more tanks, missiles, bombs or ships, as we now have a One billion £ shortfall, courtesy of corporate greed, inept politicians and corrupt mod insiders.
The Armed Forces do not want or need a former refuse collection company. recruiting for them. The best ‘recruiters’ are those who currently serve in said Armed Forces. Absolutely shocking!
That’s what is was , Lads doing Shore time would get Drafted to Careers offices talking RN here mostly Writers they’d do a year shore side then back to sea ,the thing was people looking too join got to speak with someone who knew what the fuck being in the Navy was about
I am applying in April, I really hope that this is somewhat of an improvement!!
I’m not sure how it works these days, but start your efforts from one of the existing Recruitment Centres which hopefully are still maned by military personnel. I have worked with SERCO before and can’t imagine them to be as bad as CRAPITA but you never now as their interest is mainly financially driven as opposed to the old system of count driven and getting bodies in to feed the system.
The pre privatisation Armed forces recruitment offices were more efficient, often processed in a couple of months, doubt they would be as expensive as outsourcing. Capita were rewarded for failure to meet targets with contract extension. Perhaps name over the door change as may transfer staff ?
Call me old fashioned but isn’t it better to have uniformed personnel at recruiting offices? Far more credibility than a civilian recruitment organisation reading from a script. Have HMG learned nothing? Or is it because successive defence cuts have thinned numbers out so much there simply no personnel to spare for recruitment duties?
Optima for health
Good luck with that one.
Bring back the Army School of Recruiting as was in Woolwich London in the early 80’s. To compliment this we had Senior Personnel Selection Officer posts within MOD Berkeley Square W1. I appreciate this is now 45 years ago and things move on with time. Spent 2 great years at SPSO REME/ACC. Happy days!