Services · Mobile app development · Recruitment apps

Recruitment apps for Manchester agencies hiring across the city region and the North West.

We handle recruitment app development Manchester agencies use to fill roles from Spinningfields to Salford Quays and out across the ten boroughs. That means a candidate app people actually open, a portal where clients brief and review vacancies, job posting to the boards that matter in the North West, and vetting records that stand up when a school, a law firm or a broadcaster asks how a candidate was checked.

Manchester recruitment covers very different markets: graduate schemes, supply teaching, tech contracts, legal and finance roles. One platform can serve all of them if each desk keeps the steps its market requires, and that is how we design it. Candidates see a single, consistent brand whichever desk they deal with, and your directors finally get numbers they can compare across teams.

Built for
Recruitment agencies, education recruiters, graduate employers and job board founders in Manchester, Salford and across Greater Manchester.
Typical timeline
Worked out with you in discovery once scope and integrations are clear, then fixed in a written plan before design begins.
What you own
All source code, store listings, candidate and client data, and the accounts behind every integration, registered in your name.
Rated
4.7 / 5 from 23 Google reviews

200+ companies servedFrom a first store to an ADX listed developer

Modon
Majid Al Futtaim
HP
Belkin
Dulsco Group
OneClickDrive
Hanayen
HMS
Clocksprings
Ghezlan

Platform features

What a Manchester recruitment platform needs to do.

Manchester's employers are spread across distinct hubs. Law and accountancy firms cluster in Spinningfields, broadcasters and digital studios sit at MediaCityUK in Salford, technology companies fill offices in the Northern Quarter and around Oxford Road, and logistics operators work out of Trafford Park and the airport. Thousands of graduates leave the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford each year, and many want to stay. Schools across the city region rely on agencies for teachers and support staff. The features below reflect that mix. We decide the first release with you, based on which desk earns most and which process causes the most friction today. Every feature also has to work on the mid-range phones many candidates use, often over patchy mobile data on a tram.

Explain your project
  • Search across Greater Manchester

    Candidates search by borough, by Metrolink line or by travel time on the Bee Network, so someone living in Rochdale or Wigan can see whether a role in Trafford Park is realistic before applying. Remote and hybrid filters sit alongside, because many Manchester tech roles allow both.

    Fewer applications that collapse over the commute.

  • Education vetting pack

    For supply teachers and support staff, the app gathers an enhanced DBS with the children's barred list, a Teaching Regulation Agency prohibition check, references and identity evidence. Schools receive a clear confirmation of the checks completed, matching what Keeping Children Safe in Education expects agencies to provide.

    Schools receive checks they can rely on before day one.

  • DBS update service tracking

    Where a candidate subscribes to the DBS update service, the app records their consent and the certificate details, and prompts a status check before each new booking. Candidates without a subscription are guided through a fresh application via your registered body.

    Current vetting status without repeating full checks.

  • Graduate campaign tools

    Graduate schemes open and close on fixed dates. The app runs application windows, eligibility questions, assessment day booking and status updates for large cohorts, so graduates from the city's universities hear back promptly instead of waiting weeks without news.

    Large intakes handled without losing applicants to silence.

  • Right to work with follow-up dates

    International graduates moving onto the Graduate route or sponsored work share an eVisa code, and the app logs the online check and the permission end date. British and Irish passport holders use a certified identity service provider. Reminders reach consultants before any permission expires.

    Follow-up checks happen before deadlines, not after.

  • Vacancy briefing portal

    Clients in Spinningfields or Salford Quays submit a new role through a structured brief: responsibilities, must-have skills, salary band, working pattern and interview stages. Consultants start with complete information, and the brief turns into a job advert draft for approval. Clients can also update a live brief, and the consultant is told what changed.

    Better briefs, faster first shortlists.

  • North West job board publishing

    Adverts go out to national boards, LinkedIn and your careers pages with structured data for Google's job results. Each desk chooses its channels, so the education team and the tech team are not paying to post on boards that never produce candidates for them.

    Advertising tuned to each desk's market.

  • Candidate referrals

    Placed candidates refer friends and former colleagues from inside the app. Referrals are tracked to the original candidate, rewards follow your published rules, and consultants see which networks produce the strongest hires in each sector. Referral terms are shown to candidates up front, so nobody is surprised later about how rewards are paid.

    A steady source of trusted introductions.

  • Placement and fee records

    Each confirmed start creates a placement record with the fee basis from your terms, the guarantee period and the invoice data for your accounting software. Supply bookings record days worked for the schools you invoice weekly.

    Billing follows placements without manual re-entry.

  • Branch and desk reporting

    Agencies with offices in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool see activity by branch, desk and consultant: live roles, interviews this week, starts and fall-offs. Directors spot which offices need support without exporting spreadsheets. Fall-off reasons are recorded, so patterns by client or sector become visible.

    One view of performance across the North West.

Who this is for

Four Manchester situations we build for.

Manchester recruitment businesses range from education specialists covering hundreds of schools to small tech agencies with a few consultants above a Northern Quarter café. What each needs from an app differs, and so does the order we build it in. These four starting points come up most often. Many firms recognise themselves in more than one, which is normal; discovery decides which comes first and which can follow.

01

An education recruitment agency

You fill daily supply, long-term cover and permanent roles across Greater Manchester schools. Speed matters at seven in the morning, but so does vetting, because a school cannot accept a teacher whose checks are incomplete. The app shows teachers available bookings, holds their compliance documents and sends each school the confirmation it needs. Day rates and timesheets feed payroll.

Vetting confirmation travels with every booking.

02

A tech and digital recruiter

Developers and designers in Manchester expect a modern mobile experience and get approached constantly. Your app needs fast applications, honest salary information and private alerts for roles that match their stack. Client portals let CTOs at scale-ups review shortlists quickly, and contract desks record status determinations and timesheets for each assignment. Reporting shows which channels bring the developers who actually get hired.

Candidates judge your agency by the app itself.

03

A professional services specialist

Legal, accountancy and finance roles in Spinningfields and King Street involve qualification checks, careful references and confidential searches. We build role-based permissions so sensitive candidates are visible only to named consultants, and audit trails show exactly when a profile was shared and with whom. Partners at client firms can review shortlists on their phones between meetings and leave comments the consultant sees straight away. Qualification and practising certificate details are stored with the date they were verified.

Confidential searches stay confidential by design.

04

A founder building a regional job board

A job portal app development Manchester founders bring to us usually targets one sector or one type of candidate, such as graduates or creative roles. We build the candidate app, employer accounts, listing payments and moderation together, so the board has a business model from launch and employers can see what their adverts delivered. Moderation tools catch duplicate or misleading adverts before candidates see them.

Start narrow, then widen once employers return.

Our process for a Manchester recruitment app.

  1. 01Remote discoveryVideo workshops with directors, consultants and compliance staff to map each desk's process, the boards you post to and the checks your clients require. Clients are invited too where useful.
  2. 02Scope and planA written first release with features, integrations, user types and timeline, so everyone agrees what launches first and what follows later.
  3. 03Design and testingCandidate, client and consultant screens prototyped and tested with real users, including teachers on phones and hiring managers in a hurry.
  4. 04Engineering sprintsFeatures built and demonstrated in short cycles, with your team reviewing progress and adjusting priorities as real data comes in.
  5. 05Compliance and accessibility checksVetting flows, consent records and data retention tested, and screens checked against WCAG 2.2 so candidates with disabilities can apply without barriers.
  6. 06Launch and growthApp store release, consultant training and a support plan, followed by releases shaped by usage data and client feedback.

Technology

What we build this with.

We choose frameworks that suit your existing CRM, payroll and accounting tools, and that a future in-house developer could maintain. Candidate apps are usually cross platform, with web portals for clients and consultants. Hosting is set up in your own cloud account, with UK data location if you prefer it.

01Mobile

  • Swift
  • Kotlin
  • Flutter
  • React Native

02Data and cloud

  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • MongoDB
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Docker

03Marketing and tracking

  • GA4
  • Google Tag Manager
  • Search Console
  • Meta Pixel
  • Looker Studio

Questions Manchester recruiters ask before they build.

The features that remove the most manual work for your biggest desk.

For an education agency that is usually the booking and vetting flow. For a tech recruiter it is fast applications and private alerts. For professional services it is the client portal and confidential profiles. We start with the desk that brings most revenue, release a focused first version and then add the next desk's features, rather than delaying everything until the whole business is covered. Agencies that keep their current CRM during the first phase usually launch sooner, then migrate once the app has proved itself.

Tell us what the business needs. We will tell you what to build first.

Schedule a free consultation and get a written recommendation, with costs, before you commit to anything.

Get in touch

PROVEN RESULTS

4.7 / 5from 23 Google reviews