Case Study: Virgin Media O2 transforms recruitment and saves £4.5M with Avature

How a Merger Powered Virgin Media O2’s Adoption of Best-In-Class Tech

Virgin Media O2, a major UK telecommunications company formed by merger, faced the challenge of unifying two very different hiring models and legacy recruitment systems. With needs spanning corporate, retail, engineering, and technology roles, the team struggled to hire quickly enough and deliver consistent candidate and hiring manager experiences. They partnered with Avature to modernize talent acquisition with a more flexible, integrated platform.

Avature implemented its Talent Acquisition Suite, including CRM, careers marketplace, video interviewing, automation, reporting, and analytics, enabling Virgin Media O2 to move to a proactive sourcing model and streamline hiring workflows. The results included £4.5 million saved in the first year, a 30% reduction in agency spend, a 98% increase in direct sourcing, and a 32% reduction in time-to-hire. Recruiters also spent more time on sourcing and relationship-building, while candidate NPS reached +66.

Virgin Media O2

Sharron O’Donnell

Head of Talent Acquisition