Impellam Group and its brands to become Vertage
HeadFirst Global, the parent company of UK-headquartered Impellam Group and Netherlands-headquartered HeadFirst Group, has rebranded as Vertage. The group generates billions in revenue and operates across 80 countries.
HeadFirst Global was established in March 2024, when UK-headquartered Impellam Group and Netherlands-headquartered HeadFirst Group joined forces. The two companies and their brands continued to operate independently in the market, while the two businesses were brought together under the HeadFirst Global holding company.
With more than €10 billion in gross invoice value and 1.5 million professionals in its network, the group ranks among the top ten players in the global staffing and workforce solutions market. It offers a broad range of talent solutions, including intermediary services (matching and contracting), interim staffing, secondment, HR consulting, recruitment process outsourcing and managed services.
Vertage
The group is today moving forward under the new name Vertage. The 11 brands within the group – including Comensura, Carbon60, Lorien, Guidant Global, Bartech and SRG in the UK market – will initially continue to operate under their existing names. By the end of the first quarter of 2027, these brands will also transition to the Vertage brand.
“Our ambition goes beyond unifying 11 brands under one name. It’s the foundation for building Vertage as a single model over time, not a portfolio of separate businesses,” said Edzard Overbeek, Group Chief Executive Officer of Vertage.
The name Vertage is built on a combination of the words ‘vertical advantage’. According to the group, the name embodies the idea that organisations today do not need a one-off win, but rather an edge that grows with every transformation. “Vertage is an edge that keeps building, where advantage compounds.”
Employees were briefed on the rebrand at a global event earlier this month. Clients and business partners have also been informed, with the new name being unveiled globally today across all markets in which Vertage operates.
One platform for the intelligence era
According to Overbeek, the milestone represents more than a rebrand. It also marks a stepping stone towards the next chapter for the group. Internally, Vertage aims to work more closely across its businesses and present itself more consistently as an integrated workforce partner, while also responding to a defining trend for the future of work: AI.
“Introducing Vertage brings to life a company dedicated to helping talent and businesses move faster, think bigger, and stay ahead in the intelligence era,” said Overbeek.
“Businesses must integrate AI to compete and survive but face real risk in how to invest successfully while staying compliant. Specialist talent faces uncertainty of its own, and needs support to re-skill, re-train, and stay valuable. Enterprises, talent, and partners all need a trusted guide. With the heritage and expertise of 50 years in this industry, we are best placed to play that role.”
Vertage aims to build a single platform bringing together talent, AI agents and data. The approach reflects a development in the market in which organisations are increasingly moving away from thinking in terms of headcount or hours worked and towards focusing on outcomes.
“Many customers have already moved from planning around headcount to planning around skills. Vertage intends to take that further, designing around outcomes and deploying the mix of human talent and AI agents needed to deliver them.”
AI will also play an important role within Vertage’s own operations and talent matching. The group matches hundreds of incoming assignments with professionals every day and expects AI to help it identify and connect the right people with clients more quickly and accurately. Over time, AI will enable the matching process to become increasingly intelligent.
Vertage also plans to use AI to support its talent community, including through compliance tools, knowledge resources for assignments and solutions that stimulate learning & development.
A changing market
With its rebrand, further integration and AI, Vertage aims to strengthen its position in the global staffing and workforce solutions market (worth nearly £500 billion annually). The market is undergoing significant change, with becoming increasingly tech-native seen as one of the key ways for companies to differentiate themselves. Other major players in the market include Adecco (Switzerland), ManpowerGroup (US), Randstad (the Netherlands) and Hays (UK).
