How SumUp delivered 50% headcount growth

About SumUp.

SumUp is a global financial tech company providing payment and business tools for small and medium-sized businesses. Headquartered in London, the company supports millions of merchants across 37 countries through its card readers, POS systems and digital payment solutions.

As SumUp accelerated headcount growth across the business, the company needed support securing talent across multiple teams within a compressed hiring timeframe. What began as an initial three-month project was later extended to six months as we partnered with SumUp to support rapid growth across multiple teams during a key period of scale.

Delivering 50% headcount growth without increasing recruitment costs.

SumUp had set an ambitious target to increase headcount by 50% within a six-month period. To achieve this, the business needed to hire across several specialist positions while maintaining momentum across the wider organisation.

The volume of hiring alone would have stretched internal recruitment capacity. Securing specialist talent at pace required additional sourcing expertise and dedicated recruitment support.

Cost was a critical factor alongside the speed and volume of hiring.

Traditional contingency recruitment would have added significant fee costs, while building additional internal recruitment capability for a short-term growth project was not a practical option.

SumUp needed a recruitment partner that could integrate into the existing hiring process, provide specialist recruitment expertise and deliver results at a cost that made sense for a scaling technology business.

Embedding into the hiring process to support rapid growth.

We embedded into SumUp's hiring process and operated as an extension of the internal team rather than as an external supplier. This allowed us to work closely with hiring managers, understand team requirements quickly and move at the pace required to support growth.

Once requirements were agreed, we carried out targeted searches across our specialist network, focusing on professionals with experience in fintech, payments and high-growth technology businesses.

The embedded search model also provided cost certainty throughout the project. Rather than operating on a per-hire contingency basis, SumUp benefited from a more predictable recruitment model while maintaining access to specialist talent.

18 hires delivered and over €114,000 saved through embedded search.

Over the six-month partnership, Digital Waffle delivered 18 specialist hires that supported SumUp's wider growth objectives.

Beyond the hiring outcomes, the embedded search model generated significant commercial value. Compared to a traditional contingency approach, SumUp saved more than €114,000 in recruitment costs while still achieving its hiring goals.

The success of the partnership was reflected in the project itself. Initially planned as a three-month initiative, the project was extended to six months as hiring demand continued to grow.

By combining specialist recruitment support with a scalable delivery model, SumUp was able to achieve its ambitious headcount growth targets without significantly increasing recruitment costs.

Key outcomes:

The partnership helped SumUp scale hiring quickly, achieve ambitious headcount growth and reduce recruitment costs through a more efficient embedded search model. Here are the key outcomes:

• 18 specialist hires delivered in 6 months
• Over €114,000 saved versus contingency recruitment
• Supported 50% headcount growth
• Initial project extended from 3 months to 6 months

"We needed to grow headcount by 50% in 6 months, including hard-to-fill tech roles, which wasn't something we were going to do on our own. Digital Waffle filled the gap properly. They got us the people we needed at the pace we needed them, and at significantly less cost than building out our own recruitment function. We hit the target on schedule."

- CTO, SumUp

By embedding into SumUp's hiring process and providing specialist recruitment support, we helped the business achieve 50% headcount growth while saving more than €114,000 in recruitment costs. The partnership delivered the talent needed to support rapid expansion without increasing pressure on internal teams.

If you're looking for an embedded search partner that can support rapid growth while keeping recruitment costs under control, we'd love to help.

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