Seven checks before you brief a UK employer branding agency

What to take away

Why due diligence comes before briefing a UK employer branding agency

Most first-time buyers brief an agency on a video call, agree a fee, then discover a gap three months in. Usually it is a data question, a copy complaint, or a supplier who cannot show where a candidate figure came from.

The fix is cheap. An hour of checking before the brief saves a rebuild of the campaign, the careers site copy and the reporting pack.

UK buyers have specific exposure that buyers elsewhere do not. Recruitment advertising is covered by the CAP Code, candidate data sits under UK GDPR, and supplier conduct is measured against Acas expectations. Each of those lands on you as the advertiser, not only on the agency.

This is the same discipline set out in our guide to vendor due diligence, and it applies whether you are briefing one agency or shortlisting four.

Check one: Companies House verification of the agency entity

Open the register and search the exact legal name on the proposal, not the trading name on the website. Those are often different, and the difference matters when a dispute starts.

Confirm four things: the company number matches the invoice, the registered office is real, the incorporation date fits the pitch, and the filing history is current. A dormant company cannot deliver a campaign.

Look at the people with significant control and the director list. If the pitch team is not on either, ask who employs them and who signs the contract. Subcontracting is normal, undisclosed subcontracting is not.

Check for a previous name change. Agencies rebrand often, and an old name can carry old judgments or a dissolved predecessor. Companies House holds the filing history that tells you which.

Steps to verify an agency entity

The register is free and authoritative, so start there rather than with a testimonial page. The Companies House - GOV.UK record is the version your finance and legal teams will accept.

If the entity is clean, move to the copy and data questions. If it is not, stop and ask why the proposal names a different company.

Check two: who carries ASA responsibility for the copy

The CAP Code applies to recruitment advertising in the UK, including job ads, social posts, landing pages and paid search copy. Responsibility sits with the advertiser as well as the agency, so a complaint can name your business.

Ask the agency to explain the Employment Ad rules and how they apply to salary claims, qualification requirements and role descriptions. Vague answers here predict vague copy later.

Two areas cause most complaints. First, claims about pay or benefits that the contract does not support. Second, ads that imply a role is open to all when a genuine occupational requirement has not been stated.

Get the sign-off route in writing. Who approves final copy, who holds the evidence file, and how fast can you pull a live ad if a complaint lands? The Advertising codes - ASA | CAP set out the rules the agency should be able to talk through without notes.

Equalities wording is a related risk. The Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes guidance on the Equality Act 2010, and Acas sets out fair practice for recruitment, including how roles are described and how candidates are treated. The How employers should recruit - Recruitment - Acas guidance is a sensible baseline to ask your agency about.

Check three: ICO registration and data protection fee status

Any agency processing candidate data for you is likely to need ICO registration and to pay the data protection fee. Ask for the registration number and the tier they pay, then check it on the ICO register.

This matters because candidate data is personal data. Applications, assessment notes, video interviews and talent pool records all sit inside UK GDPR, and the agency is usually a processor acting on your instructions.

Under the data protection principles, data must be adequate, relevant and kept no longer than necessary. Ask how long the agency retains unsuccessful applicant records and how deletion is proved.

The Data protection fee | ICO page explains which organisations must pay and the tiers involved. A supplier that cannot name its tier has not thought about this.

AI screening is the newest exposure. If the agency uses automated scoring, ask what the candidate is told, what human review exists, and where the model runs. The ICO has published guidance on AI and data protection that your agency should be able to summarise.

The underlying principles trace back to the Data Protection Act 1998, which shaped the UK framework that later legislation built on.

Data questions to put in writing

Check four: REC membership and code of practice commitments

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation is the main UK trade body for recruitment businesses. Membership signals that an agency has signed up to a code of practice and a complaints route.

It is a signal, not a guarantee. Check the member directory rather than the logo on the pitch deck, and confirm which legal entity holds the membership.

Ask what the code requires on advertising accuracy, candidate consent and complaint handling. Then ask how a complaint against the agency would reach you and what timescale applies.

CIPD membership is a separate signal and worth checking for the named consultants. It tells you whether the people writing your employee value proposition have a professional body behind them.

If the agency is not a member, that is not fatal. It does mean the contract has to carry the conduct obligations instead, which is the next check.

Check five: contract terms, IP and exit clauses

Read the contract before the brief, not after the first invoice. The clauses that cause trouble are predictable: intellectual property, confidentiality, payment, termination and data return.

On IP, confirm that final assets transfer to you on payment. Watch for licences that let the agency reuse your footage, imagery or employee interviews in its own marketing.

On exit, ask what happens to the careers site, the asset library and the talent pool data at termination. You want a defined handover period and a format you can actually use.

On payment, check whether fees are tied to milestones or to time. A retainer with no deliverable schedule is hard to challenge if the work drifts.

Ask about the notice period and whether it runs from the date of the notice or the end of the month. Small wording differences change the cost of leaving. Our piece on why commercial contracts need a clause review before signing covers the same ground for employer branding deals.

Worked example: a clause that costs money

A Midlands employer signs a twelve month retainer with a sixty day notice period running from the end of the following month. In month nine it wants to stop.

Notice given on 3 September takes effect at the end of October. That is nearly three months of fees for work it no longer wants.

A clause reading sixty days from the date of notice would have cut the exposure by roughly a month. Same fee, different exit cost.

Check six: evidence for claimed results and references

Agencies claim results constantly. Ask for the method behind each one: what was measured, over what period, and against what baseline.

A rise in applications means little without the media spend, the roles involved and the season. Ask for the raw numbers and the source system.

References should be named and contactable. Two live referees in your sector beat ten logos on a slide. Ask permission to speak to a client who left the agency, not only current ones.

Awards are worth checking too. Ask which body ran the award, which category, and which year. An unverifiable award is decoration, not evidence.

This is where agency reviews or your own scoring rubric help. A simple scored sheet across five criteria keeps the comparison honest when the pitch decks all look similar.

Check seven: scope, timeline and named delivery team

The final check is the brief itself. Write down what is in scope, what is out, and who does what. Ambiguity here produces the change requests that blow the budget.

Name the delivery team in the contract schedule: strategist, writer, designer, researcher, project lead. Named people can be replaced, but only with your agreement and comparable seniority.

Set the timeline with decision points, not just a launch date. Include when you must supply employee interviews, brand assets and legal sign-off.

Agree the reporting cadence and the metrics before work starts. If the agency reports on applications but you care about offer acceptance, say so now.

Finally, agree a review point at week six and month three. A short formal review catches drift while it is still cheap to correct, and it gives both sides a reason to talk before renewal.

Common questions

Do I need to check Companies House if the agency is well known?

Yes. Well known trading names can sit above a different legal entity, and the entity is who you contract with. The check takes minutes.

Who is responsible if a job ad breaches the CAP Code?

The advertiser and the agency can both be held responsible. That is why you should keep the evidence file and the sign-off record on your side.

Does an agency need to pay the ICO data protection fee?

Most organisations processing personal data for clients do, unless an exemption applies. Ask for the registration number and tier, then verify it.

Is REC membership essential?

No, but it gives you a code of practice and a complaints route. If the agency is not a member, put the conduct obligations in the contract instead.

What should the contract say about our data at exit?

It should set a handover period, a usable export format, and a deletion date with confirmation. Ask for this before you sign, not at termination.

How long should a first employer branding brief run?

Most first engagements work best as a defined project with a review at week six and month three, rather than an open ended retainer.