Randstad acquired Vedior in May 2008 in a £2.61bn worldwide deal when Wilkinson was at Vedior.

In a wide-ranging interview, he told Recruiter: “Everyone has been encouraged to think about ’us’ rather than ’me’.”

He admitted this was “a change from the past when everyone was working in their own silos, whether in an industry sector, or across a profession -; and that’s [the new way of working] what has really got us to where we are today.”

Wilkinson said that working parties set up after the acquisition, and the experience of people at lower levels working together, had led to collaboration. This had resulted in more swapping of leads and opportunities, and greater sharing of best practice, he explained. Wilkinson said the company was now working towards a more unified approach. “No longer will we have an operating company with a great clients base here, with another operating company over there being unaware,” he said.

One practical outcome had been the creation of a new corporate sales team. This was made up from sales staff from different operating companies, with a remit “to sell more than on category of service”, he explained.

However, Wilkinson revealed that he was no fan of the managed service provider model and preferred staff to do business face to face with end users. “MSP is a function of corporate sales. It’s a challenge to market, not an end in itself,” he said.

Wilkinson added: “It is not my intention to transform the company into some big MSP provider.” However, he explained, a company of Ranstad’s size needed to have it “as part of its kit bag”.

Since the deal some of the former Vedior companies have been rebranded. However, Wilkinson told Recruiter said that blind research of both candidates and clients carried out on behalf of the company “shows brand is not as important as we think”. [Editor’s note: Randstad has promised to provide Recruiter with information from the research.]

Wilkinson added: “The main part is to retain the specialist pedigree and heritage that Vedior brought to the show -; that’s why they bought us.”