Supplier Standards

The UK’s only IPO-certified, independently governed standard for inclusion within Recruitment

What Is It?

Think of it as a Social Value, ESG, and Inclusion Credit Score for your suppliers.

It gives you a transparent, evidence-based way to assess how ethical, inclusive and accountable any supplier really is, across any sector

Why Does It Matter?

Because the organisations you contract and rely on reflect your values, and your risk.

From culture and reputation to compliance and performance, knowing your suppliers’ real-world credentials puts you in control.

Isn’t That Just Business As Usual?

No. Anyone can talk a good game or flash a badge, but this is the first time you get real data behind the promises.

It’s how leading organisations move beyond box-ticking to measurable accountability.

What the Licence to Recruit Gives You...

For recruitment firms and consultants

Validate inclusive hiring, ethical delivery, and candidate experience, from attraction to onboarding.

Includes a legally registered certification mark with the UK Intellectual Property Office.

For organisations that engage recruiters

Gain unprecedented visibility into a supplier category that’s long been a grey area.

This licence gives you:

Consistent, evidence-based comparison across recruiters and agencies
Deep insight into a supplier’s internal culture, diversity, and leadership equity
Clarity on how they handle bias, challenge client behaviours, and influence hiring decisions
Visibility into pay gaps, representation, and ethical delivery standards
Confidence that they practise what they promise, for themselves and for you

What the Licence to Supply Gives You...

For suppliers in any sector

Assess and certify integrity, inclusion, ESG alignment, and social value contribution, across operations, leadership, and delivery.

For organisations who manage supplier ecosystems

The Licence to Supply acts as a risk lens, a values filter, and a reputation safeguard, helping you:

See beyond pitch decks to how suppliers actually behave
Evaluate alignment with ESG frameworks, SDGs, and the UK Social Value Model
Understand whether your suppliers’ internal standards match your own
Reduce exposure to reputational risk from poor supply chain practices
Defend procurement decisions with structured evidence, not assumptions

What is an Inclusive Supplier Licence?

A certification framework delivered by Inclusion Crowd, designed to raise supplier standards on inclusion, social value, and credibility, through independent, externally governed assessment.

What It Is

It acts as the credit score for inclusion and ethical supply, giving buyers, procurement teams, and investors a clear, risk-rated view of who’s credible, and who’s just compliant.

This is not a badge you print after watching a video.

It’s structured, auditable, and governed, with sector-specific modules backed by recognised global standards.

The Licence to Recruit is formally registered as a certification mark with the UK Intellectual Property Office.

The Licence to Supply is yet to be registered with the IPO, however both have meet the same level of rigour, governance, and repeatable oversight.

The Inclusion Licence is aligned to:

The UK Government’s Social Value Model
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
International ESG frameworks and indices (including GRI, SASB, TCFD)
Key criteria used by ESG ratings agencies and institutional investors

Problem It Solves

Client expectations of suppliers have evolved, most haven’t.
Procurement, HR, and leadership teams now choose partners based on inclusion, ESG and cultural alignment, not just price or speed.
ESG and social value aren’t optional anymore, they’re weighted and scored.
If you can’t prove you’re meeting the brief, you’re not even in the running.
Suppliers keep selling inclusion, but few can really prove it.
Generic training and self-declared values don’t cut it with serious buyers.
The Inclusion Licence acts like a credit score for trust and integrity.
One mark. Clear standards. Structured oversight. The benchmark clients need to make confident decisions.

Certifications lack teeth. This one doesn’t.

Licence to Recruit is a legally protected mark, registered with the UK IPO.
Both licences are externally governed, rigorously assessed, and evidence-based.
Reputation is at stake. Clients are watching.
If your suppliers can’t meet your standards, they’re undermining your values — and damaging your brand.

Target Audience

Recruitment firms, owners, and delivery leaders
HR, TA and people leaders using recruitment or external suppliers
Supplier relationship managers and procurement teams
COOs, ESG leads, and commercial risk owners
Any supplier wanting to build trust, win work, and protect reputation

Strategic Framing

Acts as a “credit score for inclusion, ethics, and social value” — used by buyers to de-risk their supply chain

Enables suppliers to prove credibility through governance, not just claims

Positions recruitment firms and vendors as trusted partners in high-value bids
Aligns with SDGs, UK Social Value Act, ESG benchmarks, and sustainability indices
Helps buyers and procurement teams defend decisions and meet policy requirements

Licence to Recruit is registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office and subject to formal regulation

Both licences are independently governed and share the same assessment structure, sector-specific modules, and ongoing oversight

Assessment Detail

Every Inclusion Licence is assessed across six critical areas, ensuring not just intent, but structure, alignment, and action.

No free text. No fluff. Just verifiable standards in:

Strategy & Leadership
Systems & Governance
People & Culture
Recruitment Cycle
Clients & Stakeholders
Sector & Society

For all other suppliers, proving ESG alignment, integrity, and inclusion standards across operations and delivery.

We deliver it.
You use it to lead, differentiate, and win with credibility.

It exists to help buyers and suppliers work better, together.

With shared standards, measurable impact, and accountability that doesn’t break when the RFP is won.

Client Added-Value

The Licence to Recruit™

The UK’s only IPO-certified, independently governed standard for inclusion within Recruitment

The Licence to Recruit is more than a mark.

It’s a partnership tool, a shared framework for growth, trust, and long-term collaboration between recruitment firms and their clients.

This isn’t about cutting off suppliers who don’t make the grade.

It’s about creating a transparent, structured, and safe space to understand where things are strong, where they need work, and where opportunities to co-create value exist.

For recruitment firms:

Proves your credibility with clients, candidates, and internal teams
Differentiates you in a noisy market full of unsupported claims
Brings governance and structure to the things you say you believe in
Provides tools, diagnostics, and ongoing improvement plans, not a pass / fail stamp
Builds internal clarity and a strong culture, aligned with what your clients now expect

For clients:

Provides a consistent, comparable way to assess recruitment partners
Surfaces insights you’ve never had access to before, culture, pay equity, diversity, candidate care
Helps you deepen the relationship, explore shared values, and align delivery with strategy
Turns your suppliers into strategic partners on EDI, ESG, retention, onboarding, and more
Shifts the conversation from performance management to opportunity creation

This is not about replacement.
It’s about transparency, credibility, and growing together, for real.

Organisational Certification

You Get:

✅ Full audit across systems, tools, policies, comms, decision-making, and outcomes

✅ Candidate journey review including accessibility, feedback, and touchpoints

✅ Policy and data review for compliance, risk, and trust factors

✅ Licence to Recruit™ Certification Mark for use on tenders, careers sites, and

employer brand

✅ External report, dashboard, and optional recertification pathway

✅ Optional integration into broader DEI or governance reporting frameworks

Individual Certification

You Get:

✅ Role-specific, standards-based learning (not generic inclusion training)

✅ Assessment via scenario-based testing, ethical decision pathways, and judgement questions

✅ Certification with public registry inclusion

✅ Licence to Recruit™ personal certification mark and digital credentials

✅ Optional coaching for agency recruiters (objection handling, client comms, commercial rigour)

The Licence to Supply

Whether you’re onboarding new suppliers, refreshing a PSL, or deepening existing partnerships, this is how you build a supply chain that reflects your values and supports your objectives.

This is for suppliers who want to build trust, not just tick boxes.

The Licence to Supply is a structured certification framework that assesses suppliers across inclusion, social value, ESG alignment, and ethical business practice, giving buyers and suppliers a shared foundation to build better partnerships.

This isn’t about excluding suppliers who don’t make the cut.

It’s about providing a transparent, consistent, and governed structure to explore:

Where a supplier is strong
Where improvement is needed
And where new opportunities to collaborate on shared goals can emerge

For Suppliers:

A structured, externally validated way to demonstrate ESG, inclusion, and social value commitment
A practical roadmap for improvement, with coaching and guidance, not judgement
A differentiator in competitive bids and tenders, especially in regulated or high-impact sectors
Confidence that what you're saying externally is backed by credible internal practice
A mark that shows you're doing the work, not just marketing the message

For Buyers & Procurement Leads:

A consistent framework to assess and compare supplier performance on inclusion, ethics, and ESG, across all tiers
Deep insight into how a supplier actually operates, culture, leadership, policies, representation, equity
Independent assurance that removes guesswork from supplier selection
Early identification of risk, misalignment, or reputation exposure, before it escalates
A platform to strengthen existing supplier relationships through shared data, trust, and development

It’s structured, auditable, and governed, aligned to:

The UK Government’s Social Value Model
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Global ESG frameworks (GRI, SASB, TCFD)
Evaluation standards used by ESG ratings agencies
Your own internal standards, reflected in supplier strategy

The Licence to Recruit

The Licence to Supply

The UK’s only IPO-certified, independently governed standard for inclusion within Recruitment

What Is It?

Why Does It Matter?

Isn’t That Just Business As Usual?

It's like an ethical credit score, for recruiters and suppliers

What is an Inclusive Supplier Licence?

What It Is

Problem It Solves

Target Audience

Strategic Framing

Assessment Detail

The Licence to Recruit™

The UK’s only IPO-certified, independently governed standard for inclusion within Recruitment

This is for suppliers who want to build trust, not just tick boxes.

The Licence to Supply

For Suppliers:

For Buyers & Procurement Leads: