Just over a year since the collapse of financial services firm Lehman Brothers, a senior RPO head said this event was the catalyst for the investment banks’ shift away from pure vendor management to direct resourcing.

Miles Stribbling, managing director - operations, Resource Solutions, told Recruiter that once Lehman staff knew - or guessed - what was happening and began contacting agencies looking for a move, within 24 hours almost all the investment banks sent out a message to say that there would be no hiring of Lehman candidates through agencies.

“As far as the banks were concerned, it was a seismic shift in confidence in their own capabilities to track, respond and hire applicants, without going through specialist recruitment agencies,” Stribbling explained. “The big banks hadn’t really used their brand in the marketplace before, but now, since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, they are using RPO providers to go directly to the market.

“And we’re carrying out brand optimisation for our clients onsite in a more consultative approach.”

This shift towards more direct resourcing and consultation is borne out by Alexander Mann Solutions’ chief executive Rosaleen Blair. “You can almost describe AMS as a professional consultancy for resourcing,” she told Recruiter. “We’re embedded onsite within our clients’ organisations because you have to live the culture. Our people become the custodians of a client’s brand.”