The verdict in three sentences
An 18-consultant firm stacking two ATS tools and a CRM spends GBP 17,000 to 33,000 a year on licences and, more importantly, wastes the value of its 60,000-candidate pool, poorly indexed and partly outside GDPR. A custom ATS unifying candidates, clients, assignments and fees pays for itself as soon as it delivers 2 to 3 extra placements a year through effective search of the existing pool. The right first release covers the pool, semantic search and the assignment pipeline; invoicing and a client portal follow.
The hidden cost of three disconnected tools
Consultants search the main ATS, re-key client contacts into the CRM and track fees in a spreadsheet. A candidate met 18 months ago for a finance director role stays invisible when a similar assignment arrives, because keyword search does not match « FD » with « CFO » or « head of finance ».
| Item (2026 order of magnitude) | Current tools | Custom ATS |
|---|---|---|
| Annual licences for 18 users | GBP 17,300 to 33,500 | GBP 0 (hosting GBP 2,000 to 5,000) |
| Share of placements from existing pool | 15 to 20% | 30 to 40% |
| Search time per assignment | 4 to 6 h | 1 to 2 h |
| Average time to present a shortlist | 15 to 20 days | 8 to 12 days |
| CVs kept beyond 2 years without consent | 30 to 45% of pool | 0% (automatic purge) |
| Fees invoiced late | 10 to 15% | under 3% |
Under UK GDPR, the ICO expects a documented retention period, and 2 years after last contact for an unsuccessful candidate is common practice unless explicit consent is renewed. A 60,000-profile pool with no purge exposes the firm to fines of up to 4% of turnover and, above all, to a loss of trust among senior candidates.
Modules to plan for and their budget
With fees of 20 to 25% of first-year base salary, placing an executive at GBP 85,000 earns GBP 17,000 to 21,250 excl. VAT. The ATS must therefore be built around the assignment and its invoicing.
| Module | Key function | UK market budget (GBP excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate pool | CV parsing, deduplication, contact history | 7,700 to 15,500 |
| Semantic search | job title synonyms, skills, AI matching | 8,600 to 19,000 |
| Assignments and pipeline | stages, shortlists, client feedback, reminders | 6,900 to 14,600 |
| Client CRM | accounts, contacts, opportunities, framework agreements | 5,200 to 12,000 |
| Fees and invoicing | retainer on signature, balance on hire, rebate period | 6,000 to 12,900 |
| GDPR and integrations | consent, 2-year purge, LinkedIn, email, job boards | 8,600 to 21,000 |
| Total full project | 43,000 to 95,000 |
Kolonell builds this type of custom application for 2.5 to 15M+ FCFA (EUR 3,810 to 22,870+) depending on complexity, with the rest quoted separately. A first release covering the pool, search and assignments is delivered in 10 to 14 weeks.
Pool migration: the step not to underestimate
Migrating 60,000 profiles from two ATS tools means merging duplicates (often 15 to 25% of the total), rebuilding consent records and deleting stale profiles. It is also the moment to enrich each record with normalised skills.
Mini case study
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James, founder of an 18-consultant executive recruitment firm in London, makes 140 placements a year at an average fee of GBP 17,500 excl. VAT. He pays GBP 24,000 a year in licences. With a GBP 73,000 custom ATS, he drops those licences for GBP 3,500 of hosting and GBP 8,500 of maintenance, saving GBP 12,000 a year. If semantic search lifts the share of placements from the pool from 18% to 28%, he gains about 6 extra placements without external sourcing, i.e. GBP 105,000 in fees. Annual gain: GBP 117,000, a payback of roughly 8 months.
FAQ
Why not just switch to another off-the-shelf ATS?
That makes sense for a firm with fewer than 8 consultants. Beyond 15, licences exceed GBP 17,000 a year and the firm's own fee logic stays in spreadsheets.
Does semantic search work on CVs in French?
Yes, the engine indexes CVs in English and French and matches equivalent titles (FD, CFO, directeur financier). AI indexing costs only a few pence per CV.
How do we stay GDPR compliant?
Each candidate receives a privacy notice, a consent reminder at 23 months, then an automatic purge at 24 months if there is no reply. A record of processing activities is generated for the data protection officer.
Can we connect LinkedIn?
Import works through the consultant's browser extension and authorised LinkedIn Recruiter exports, within the platform's terms. Outlook or Gmail integration costs GBP 2,600 to 5,200 excl. VAT.
How long does it take to train 18 consultants?
Half a day of training and two weeks of support are enough when the tool mirrors your real assignment stages. Adoption usually exceeds 90% after one month.
Let's scope your project. Send us your pool size, current tools and assignment process: we will price a first release covering the pool, semantic search and assignments with an indicative budget and migration plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
