Operating across 45 countries and supporting approximately 12,000 employees in offices and a similar number of professionals working for clients every day, Brunel has grown into one of the world's leading specialist workforce solutions organisations. As the company continued to expand globally, it faced a critical challenge: how to modernise a highly customised recruitment platform that had become increasingly difficult to evolve, integrate and scale.
Brunel had already recognised the need for a common technology platform more than a decade ago. Its first approach was to develop its own system, tailored around the individual requirements of different countries and markets.
Over time, however, that flexibility became a constraint. Local customisation had created inconsistency, while maintaining and developing an internal platform made it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the speed of change taking place in the wider technology market.
As Peter de Laat, CEO at Brunel, explains, “We identified that we couldn't keep up with all the developments in the external world. So we decided we wanted to go for a more standard solution.”
The challenge was therefore bigger than replacing a recruitment system. To support future growth, improve operational consistency and create a stronger foundation for innovation, Brunel embarked on a global technology transformation programme with Mercury and Microsoft. The initiative would ultimately create a single global platform, standardise processes across the business and position the organisation to take advantage of emerging AI technologies with a platform that could continue to evolve.
The Business Case: Standardise to move faster
The existing highly customised approach had served the organisation well, but Brunel recognised that trying to accommodate every local requirement within a bespoke system was slowing its ability to develop and keep pace with industry innovation.
"We identified that we couldn't keep up with all the developments in the external world."
The answer was a conscious shift towards standardisation.
Importantly, Brunel did not set out to replicate every element of its existing systems and processes. The leadership team established a clear expectation across the organisation that a global platform would require compromise.
“It's not going to support 100% of your business. We're aiming for 85, 90%, but that's it” said Peter.
That principle would become important throughout the implementation. Rather than rebuilding years of local customisation in a new technology, Brunel would standardise the core while retaining the ability to accommodate requirements that genuinely mattered.
The choice of partner was equally important.
Brunel wanted more than a software supplier. It wanted an organisation prepared to listen, challenge and work alongside its own technology teams.
“We were especially looking for a company that would listen to us and listen to our requirements.”
There was another important factor in the decision: Microsoft.
Brunel already had a strong relationship with Microsoft and its wider technology environment was Microsoft-based. Selecting Mercury therefore meant its recruitment technology could form part of that existing ecosystem rather than becoming another isolated application.
“Our complete, entire environment is Microsoft-based. And for us to start, we felt, it makes sense to look for a solution that's also Microsoft-based.”
The Technology Strategy: A platform, not simply a CRM
For Stefan de Boer, CTO at Brunel, the decision fits within a much broader technology strategy.
The objective is to create a connected technology landscape capable of supporting a complex global organisation while continuing to evolve.
“Our technology strategy is ultimately about enabling the business to move faster, operate more consistently and create better experience for our clients, candidates and employees.”
For an organisation operating across multiple countries, markets and business areas, that means finding the right balance between global consistency and local requirements.
Brunel's response is an increasingly platform-driven approach.
“We want fewer isolated, applications, more connected processes, better use of data and the technology landscape that allows us to move. And, faster and innovate at scale.”
Microsoft provides the foundation for that strategy.
Rather than treating recruitment technology as a standalone system, Brunel is building its technology environment around a common platform spanning different areas of the organisation.
Stefan explains: “Microsoft is for us, our partner, our foundation. We have built all our processes around the Microsoft platform. Microsoft is a partner not only for the recruitment part, but also for the delivery part, also for the financial part.”
The significance goes beyond individual applications. Microsoft provides what Stefan describes as the foundation for Brunel's data, security, identity management and reporting.
That also gives Brunel the ability to combine external technology with its own internal expertise.
“We have our own experts in-house so that we can scale the technology, we can scale within Brunel, we can scale within the different segments we are operating in. So we have the knowledge, we have the relationship, they have the foundation. And Mercury brings us the add ons that we need to operate fast.”
Mercury therefore sits within a wider technology strategy. By aligning recruitment technology with the wider Microsoft ecosystem, Brunel could scale innovation more effectively while maintaining a consistent technology foundation across the business.
Delivering a Global Transformation
Rolling out a new recruitment platform across 45 countries meant addressing data, processes, user adoption, training and local requirements while keeping the business operating throughout.
For IT Project Manager Berny Custers, one of the biggest risks was clear from the outset: data.
“You can have the best application in the world, but if the data is not correct, people will not start using it and don't trust platform replication.”
Brunel therefore put significant effort into migration planning and, crucially, deciding what information actually needed to move into the new platform. Instead of automatically migrating everything from the legacy system, Brunel scoped the data that would genuinely provide value in the new environment. That sometimes required negotiation with the business, but the objective was a cleaner, more relevant dataset and a better experience for users.
The approach also helped Brunel execute migrations rapidly.
“We could do data migrations in one weekend. On Monday. Everybody could start working. We didn't have to close down the system on Monday because not all data was over.”
Starting again rather than rebuilding the past
Another important lesson emerged during the early stages of the rollout.
Instead of attempting to recreate the legacy system field by field and process by process, Brunel increasingly treated Mercury as an opportunity to establish a new way of working.
Berny describes the principle as: “This was really seeing the implementation of Mercury as a fresh start. This is a new starting point. Don't look backwards. We really look forward.”
That meant starting with the proven processes available within Mercury and then identifying where configuration or additional functionality was genuinely required.
As the rollout progressed, Brunel became increasingly confident in that approach.
Driving adoption around the world
Another major focus of the project was ensuring users embraced the new platform.
Brunel therefore involved regional key users early, giving them visibility of the platform and an opportunity to discuss the challenges and requirements of their local teams. One of the biggest advantages recruiters immediately recognised was the integration between systems. Those users became advocates for the project within their own offices.
The programme took an intentionally human approach to change management. Training was deliberately hands-on. Key users received at least three days of training, while end users received a day, with sessions conducted face-to-face in Brunel offices. Every office also received a cake on go-live day to celebrate the launch. As Bernie joked: "It was one of our secret weapons."
Support continued beyond go-live. Brunel placed knowledgeable project team members within offices during the early stages so that questions and issues could be addressed immediately, typically providing two weeks of this support and extending it where necessary.
These efforts helped build enthusiasm, encourage adoption and reinforce the sense of a shared global transformation.
One global way of working
Today, Brunel operates on a single global platform, supported by standardised processes and significantly improved data quality. The platform has also improved operational efficiency by guiding users through processes and automating activities through workflows and integrations.
Peter highlights the connection between consistent processes, consistent data and better decision-making:
“For us, a big advantage is that we now have one consistent way of working that results in consistent dashboards. So as much the quality of the data that we have available is much better…So you can also make the right decisions based on that data.”
One achievement stands out most for Bernie: "If I now walk in any office of Brunel, the first thing I probably will see is somebody sitting behind a screen having Mercury open” And importantly: “it doesn't matter, where we go, they’re working in the same way, they see the same information everywhere.”
Partnership rather than supplier relationship
A global transformation inevitably brings challenges, particularly over a rollout lasting several months and multiple territories, business units or brands. For Brunel, the important distinction was the ability to work through those challenges collaboratively.
Berny explains: “What we were looking for from day one was really a partner, not a supplier of another tool”
That meant being able to have open conversations when something needed to improve and working jointly to find a solution.
This became particularly important when Brunel needed to bring the acquired Taylor Hopkinson business onto the platform.
Taylor Hopkinson had its own systems and established ways of working, creating one of the most challenging stages of the rollout. Brunel and Mercury spent additional time understanding those requirements and identifying where the existing solution could be improved.
According to Berny: “Mercury even changed some of the core applications to make that happen.”
The result allowed Brunel to combine elements of both approaches rather than simply imposing one existing model on the acquired business.
“We really could say this is a best of both worlds.”
From transformation to innovation
With the global rollout complete, Brunel's focus is shifting.
The original transformation created greater consistency in processes and data. The Microsoft foundation and Mercury platform now provide an environment upon which Brunel can continue to develop.
And the timing has proved significant.
AI emerged as a major technology shift shortly after Brunel and Mercury began working together.
Peter describes it as a new accelerator: “And we were kind of lucky that the AI element came in shortly after we started working together. Yes. And that's also the big accelerator.”
Brunel is exploring how AI can help accelerate processes, improve connections with client systems and create more time for higher-value activities such as talent pooling and candidate engagement.
For Stefan, AI also reinforces the logic behind Brunel's platform strategy. Connected applications, data and processes provide the foundation from which AI can increasingly operate across the organisation. "Increasingly, AI becomes a more important topic and layer across all of the organisation and all of our processes."
The project, therefore, is not viewed as finished simply because the rollout is complete.
As Peter explains: “For me the cooperation is still very early days. And last year we just finalized a complete rollout. So now people are getting used to it, using it properly. Now we should come up with better ideas and more ideas to further improve it. And that's where the true strength of the partnership is.”
A foundation for what comes next
Brunel's journey demonstrates the difference between replacing a recruitment system and undertaking a wider technology transformation.
The commercial case was built around greater speed, consistency, user experience and the ability to benefit from innovation taking place in the wider market.
The technology strategy placed recruitment within a broader Microsoft ecosystem, connecting data, processes and applications rather than creating another standalone system.
And the implementation focused on turning that strategy into a practical global way of working, with careful data migration, strong user involvement, face-to-face training and support throughout the rollout.
"For Brunel, the technology transformation was never simply about replacing a recruitment system. It was about creating a global platform for growth, consistency and innovation. With Microsoft providing the foundation and Mercury delivering recruitment-specific capability, the organisation has established a technology platform capable of supporting its future ambitions for years to come". Chris Kendrick, Mercury Founder & CEO
Today, Brunel has moved from a heavily customised legacy environment towards a common global platform, with Mercury providing recruitment-specific capability within its wider Microsoft technology strategy. The rollout may be complete, but Brunel sees that as the foundation rather than the destination.
The next stage is about using that foundation to move faster, improve further and take advantage of the new possibilities created by AI.