“We’re thinking long term. We are really going to nurse this through,” John Dunn told Recruiter. “We do realise the value of the [Select Education] brand — it’s got brand equity to die for. However, we see a greater benefit, long term, in being associated with Randstad. We want to take positive advantage of the name change.”

During the first year of the transition, the names of eponymous education recruiter and sister companies Special Agent and rete Leaders will be followed by ‘soon to be Randstad Education’. The second year will find the companies identified as ‘Randstad Education formerly’ followed by their previous name.

The branding of two other companies in the education collection previously known as the Verb (Vedior Education Recruitment Business)
Group, teachanywhere.com and Supreme Education, have yet to be decided. “We’re still reviewing that at the moment,” Dunn said. “We’re taking this one step at a time.”

The lengthy transition will ensure that, as well as giving regular clients and candidates the chance to get used to the name change, the rebranded identity does not escape the recruiter’s intermittent customers.

However, the Select Education rebranding could mark the beginning of a series of similar moves across the recruitment companies that were previously part of the Vedior empire and were acquired by Randstad last year. A 30 March announcement on the corporate website of Randstad-owned Sapphire Technologies revealed that company was rebranding as Randstad. It said: “This is part of our strategy to bring to you a complete staffing & HR services offering and includes changing the names of 20 of the company’s current brands in Australia and New Zealand to Randstad.”

Abraxas is one of the 20 names listed as scheduled for change. Abraxas’ head office is in London.

Dunn said that Randstad aspires to overtake Adecco as the worldwide leader in recruitment in the next two years, and that being linked with the global number one will benefit the education recruiter.