QPS is pleased to confirm that it has successfully completed an independent compliance audit conducted by Datum RPO, and has been added to Datum’s preferred supplier list (PSL) as an accredited umbrella company.
For recruitment agencies reviewing their supply chains, this gives a clear, independently verified answer to a question that matters more every year: can the umbrella companies you work with actually evidence their compliance, or are they just telling you they’re compliant?
Who are Datum RPO?
Datum RPO is a UK-based recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider. They work with large organisations to manage their temporary, contract and contingent workforce, offering vendor-neutral recruitment management, agency labour spend analysis and reporting, supply chain management for recruitment agencies, and independent recruitment compliance audits.
Because Datum sits between large end-clients and the recruitment agencies and umbrella companies in their supply chain, their role depends on being able to verify, not assume, that everyone in that chain is operating compliantly. That makes their audit process a genuinely independent and demanding test, rather than a box-ticking exercise.
What did the audit cover?
Datum’s audit, run through their Compliance.One programme, assessed QPS against eight key compliance areas:
- Company governance and registration controls
- Taxation compliance, including VAT, PAYE, RTI and CIS
- Right to work and worker eligibility processes
- Worker contracts and key documentation
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage compliance
- Payroll accuracy, deductions, holiday pay and payslip standards
- GDPR, Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) and complaints governance
Datum has confirmed that QPS meets the standards required to successfully pass the audit. As a result, QPS has been added to Datum’s PSL as an accredited umbrella partner, giving agencies working with Datum-managed clients a compliant, independently verified umbrella option.
Why independent verification matters
Accreditation isn’t a logo, it’s an audit trail. Anyone can say they’re compliant. What’s harder to produce is a third party, with no commercial reason to flatter a supplier, independently testing that supplier’s governance, payroll practices and compliance processes and confirming they meet the required standard.
That distinction matters more in the current environment. Joint and several liability reform is expected to bring greater scrutiny to recruitment supply chains, and HMRC continues to invest in compliance and debt management resource. The umbrella companies an agency works with are increasingly part of that agency’s own due diligence picture, not a separate concern.
For agencies building or reviewing a PSL, the questions worth asking of any umbrella partner include:
- Have they been independently audited, and by whom?
- What did that audit actually assess?
- Can they evidence the result, not just claim it?
What this means for agencies working with Datum
If your agency already works with, or is interested in working with, organisations managed through Datum RPO, QPS is now available as an accredited umbrella partner on their PSL.
How QPS can help
Whether or not your agency works with Datum-managed clients, this accreditation reflects the same standards QPS applies across the board: full salary contracts, transparent deductions, RTI-compliant submissions, and payroll processes built to withstand scrutiny, not just describe it.
It also sits alongside our existing FCSA and SafeRec accreditations, adding a third independent check to QPS’s compliance record.
Get in touch with QPS to review how your agency can strengthen payroll transparency and reduce compliance risk.
