Leading business management software provider The Access Group, today acquires Diversely, the inclusive recruitment solution that transforms diversity for staffing firms globally through the power of data and analytics.

Access Recruitment, a division of the Access Group, supports agencies from start-ups through to large enterprise players to operate and grow successfully with its recruitment operating system and integrated website, screening and pay and bill technology. Diversely enables staffing firms to remove bias helping them to win new business, stay compliant and attract a wider candidate pool whilst differentiating their brand from competitors.

Recruitment agencies are increasingly under pressure from clients, candidates and governments to prioritise diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). Staffing RFPs frequently require commitments to running an inclusive recruitment process, and demonstrating the diversity of their candidate pool is important for agencies in their quest to win and retain clients. With the introduction of gender pay gap reporting and an increasing trend towards transparency in hiring processes, recruiters need to have compliant data gathering processes and dashboards giving visibility of their D&I metrics at their fingertips. At the same time candidates expect and deserve fair and transparent hiring processes.

The candidate application and selection process will be transformed with the coming together of Access Volcanic’s recruitment website platform and Diversely. To facilitate a more equitable hiring process Volcanic’s accessible design, powerful job search, SEO and content management capabilities will be strengthened with Diversely’s award-winning inclusive recruitment technology allowing agencies to measure, track and improve diversity. The recruitment website platform will offer the tools to attract candidates and shortlist applications using a fully inclusive process, whilst reporting on DE&I and improving pipeline diversity for agencies across the globe. For Volcanic customers, the Diversely features will be fully embedded within Access Recruitment’s operating system, Vincere, as well as connecting with other CRMs to ensure a seamless candidate journey.

This acquisition represents a landmark move in the DE&I space, with Diversely being the first technology platform of its kind to be acquired by a larger technology group. Set up in 2020 by a passionate duo of female entrepreneurs, Helen McGuire and Hayley Bakker, Diversely is unique in its ability to track eight elements of diversity and due to its globally compliant status. Launched with a vision to level the playing field for candidates through the invention of inclusive recruitment tools and deep data insights, the platform has amassed a large industry following and been recognised with awards for innovation.

Christian Fleck, Managing Director of Access Recruitment, commented: “Our acquisition of the award-winning Diversely suite enables our recruitment agency customers to address their clients’ DE&I needs like never before. DE&I is one of the mega-trends of our generation, and the power of Diversely’s data and analytics embedded in Access Recruitment’s Volcanic website and CRM platforms including Vincere will allow recruitment agencies to deliver an inclusive candidate journey, increase client satisfaction and win more business.” 

Helen McGuire, CEO and Co-founder of Diversely added: “The vision for a solution that struck at the heart of biases in hiring and to solve a lack of workplace diversity was first conceived over eight years ago. Since coming together as co-founders in 2020, Hayley and I have worked relentlessly with our talented teams to create, educate on and grow an effective, efficient, data-driven way to ensure inclusive hiring practices are a part of day-to-day processes for recruitment organisations. We could not be more thrilled about Diversely’s new home within The Access Group, which will ensure that our mission to have this next-generation technology in the hands of as many hiring professionals as possible is delivered at a speed and scale of which we could only have dreamed of three years ago.”



This latest acquisition follows on from the significant acquisitions in 2022 of Vincere, recruitment operating system, and FastTrack360, SaaS pay and bill solution.