How we helped Elcometer secure a UK Sponsor Licence to support global growth

Elcometer is a leading company in the field of material inspection equipment.

Headquartered in the UK, the company has traditionally recruited staff from among the domestic workforce. But by the time of our collaboration, Elcometer’s fast growth trajectory was beginning to outpace its present resources. To fill a new set of specialist positions, the company resolved to look beyond British borders for skilled talent.

Having identified a number of talented foreign candidates for these roles, the company then spotted an iceberg in the distance: the UK government’s impending changes to the Skilled Worker visa route. These reforms, which have since taken effect, raised the salary threshold for overseas nationals to £38,700, or the going rate for that position; whichever is higher.

Elcometer calculated that this new restriction would make their overseas recruitment strategy significantly less cost-effective. Faced with the pressing need to kick off their hiring drive before the April 2024 cliff-edge, the company contacted Centuro Global for assistance.

We promptly arranged a call to talk them through their options. Our legal experts structured the conversation around the upcoming policy changes and the specific routes that Elcometer should take to pre-empt them.

On the basis of this call, the client quickly engaged us to manage their first venture into global talent acquisition.

The Process

Our initial objective was to help the client fully understand what we were seeking to achieve with this collaboration and how we’d achieve it. As their team had no prior experience in global mobility, we talked through unfamiliar technical terminology and explained processes. This groundwork ensured that all Elcometer stakeholders, from HR to finance to the C-suite, could then follow the ongoing progress of the case.

Once the client had grasped the details, we commenced the first practical task: acquiring their sponsor licence. This is the certificate, issued by the Home Office, that any UK company who wants to hire foreign nationals must hold.

Our team gathered all the necessary details and documentation from the client to send to UK Visas and Immigration. Their sponsor licence application was approved within four weeks of submission.

Our strategic consultations helped Elcometer make more cost-effective talent management decisions, like moving their foreign graduate hires onto skilled worker visas in advance of the threshold increase.

The Outcome

Thanks to their work with Centuro Global, Elcometer obtained a valid sponsor licence well before the policy changes came into effect. This allowed it to fill its UK roles with the best people the world had to offer at strategically viable rates of pay.

Elcometer can now hire foreign talent whenever it pleases. It can also retain its pre-existing foreign graduate hires in full compliance with UK law, saving thousands of pounds in recruitment costs.

To get a sponsor licence for your own company, get in touch with our expert Visa and Immigration team today.

If you’ve been affected by the raising of salary thresholds for the Skilled Worker visa route, get in touch for free consultation.