HeadFirst Jaarverslag 2023

DARE TO LEAD

Join the next world of work

We believe that change is the only constant in the job market for professionals. As a rapidly expanding ecosystem, with a passion for people and tech, we are shaping these changes.

We believe that the next world of work will be increasingly tech-enabled, without bias, and regardless of contract type.

Together with our network, we strive for one common goal: a transparent, balanced, and inclusive job market, where organisations and mission-critical talent are perfectly connected.

We lead the way into this new world of work. Do you also dare to take the lead?

Watch video

Our core values ■■ How we create value ■■ HR tech solutions for you ■■ Impact in the labour market chain

■■ Our journey of continued growth ■■ MANAGEMENT REPORT

Market developments and trends

Public affairs agenda

Business development and innovation

Structural growth drivers

stakeholders

policy

results

People & culture

management

for 2024

The information in this annual report is based on the 2022 and 2023 audited consolidated financial statements of HFBG Holding B.V. ProUnity and StarApple were included in the consolidation in 2023 as from 1 September 2023.

The financial figures as included in this report on pages 5, 6, 11, and 15 comprise the financial figures of Star Apple Holding and ProUnity from 1 January 2023.

2023 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ■■

2023 Consolidated financial statements

2023 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2023 ■■

Consolidated statement of changes in equity ■■

Consolidated statement of cash flows for 2023 ■■

Notes to the consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2023

2023 Company financial statements

Company balance sheet as at 31 December 2023

2023 Company income statement ■■

Notes to the company financial statements 2023 ■■

OTHER INFORMATION

Independent auditor’s report

FOREWORD FROM THE CEO: OUR AMBITION

We strive for the next world of work, which is increasingly tech-enabled, without bias and regardless of contract type. We take you along on our journey of transforming our organisation and how we contribute to this better world.

The landscape of work is evolving, with a noticeable scarcity of talent across industries. In such times, it's organisations at the forefront of digital innovation, those who prioritise their people and the planet, that stand out by attracting top talent. We, at HeadFirst Group, resonate deeply with this ethos. Our core values of continuous improvement, daily learning, and forging impactful connections place us squarely among those leading the charge towards a future that's more equitable, sustainable, and innovative. Yet, the journey is not without its challenges. The persistent talent shortage in the labour market continues to be a hurdle. However, it's precisely in these challenges that opportunities lie.

Organisations like ours, which prioritise digital leadership while maintaining a steadfast commitment to our people and the planet, are uniquely positioned to thrive. We’ve embraced this opportunity head-on, using it as a catalyst for our significant organic growth in 2023, and laying a strong foundation for the year ahead. As we navigate through these times, our dedication to transforming the landscape of work remains unwavering. We’re not just

adapting; we’re leading with a vision for a workplace that’s equitable, diverse, and inclusive of all contract types. This report amplifies our commitment and the strides we’ve made towards not just envisioning but actively creating this next world of work. As you delve into the pages of this report, you’ll find not only a reflection of our achievements but also our blueprint for the future. It’s a future we’re excited to lead and share with you. At HeadFirst Group, we’re more than ready to take on the responsibility of taking the lead.

MARION VAN HAPPEN

"We’re excited to lead and share the future with you."

2023 results: 21% fully organic growth

In 2023, we set ambitious goals, driven by our core values of continuous improvement, daily learning, and impactful connections. I am proud to report that not only did we meet these goals, but we surpassed them, achieving an impressive 21% fully organic growth. This growth is a clear indicator of our collective dedication and hard work. Our achievements this past year reflect the strength and resilience of our team. We've seen a remarkable 7% increase in employee satisfaction, an achievement that speaks volumes about our vibrant work culture and our commitment to nurturing talent. Equally impressive is the substantial 31-point increase in our Net Promoter Score (NPS) amongst clients, delivery partners, and independent professionals alike. This significant uptick underscores our steadfast dedication to not just meeting but exceeding the expectations of those we serve. As we look back on a year marked by success and positive transformation, I am filled with immense pride in our team. Their exceptional dedication and effort have been the driving force behind our achievements. It’s their innovative spirit and relentless pursuit of excellence that have set us apart as leaders in our industry.

The transformation of HeadFirst Group into an HR tech solution provider encapsulates a forward-thinking approach to human resources management that leverages technology to enhance human interactions rather than replace them. By focusing on core processes like matchmaking, contracting, and finance, and achieving significant growth in gross invoice value and gross profit, the group demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating digital tools with a human-centric service model.

In doing so, we did not lose sight of the fact that we must continue to provide the very best service to our customers, as evidenced by our customer satisfaction scores and organic growth. We realised a gross invoice value growth of 21% to €2.6 billion. Our gross profit increased by 20% to €76 million. Operational EBITDA increased to €38 million. This is the perfect foundation and driver for further organic growth of our organisation.

2024: tech enables touch for perfect journeys

We believe that through the smart use of automation and AI, the end-to-end process of sourcing, matching, contracting, and paying professionals can be extensively digitalised, so that we can add our personal touch at the moments where they really add value to our clients, professionals, and partner network. We will continue this strategy into 2024, with our priority platforms Striive, ProUnity and OpenTalent at the centre of this ecosystem.

In doing so, we have to consider various trends in the world that have a direct or indirect impact on our organisation. On the geopolitical front, developments are turbulent: the world is facing climate change, shifting political centres of power, and intense wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. These geopolitical shock waves and global changes are altering the world order.

Meanwhile, we are more directly impacted by structural global labour market shortages, especially in the area of professionals in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), which is our specialisation. Next to the structurally growing demand for STEM professionals, ageing is one of the obvious explanations for this as older

generations leave the labour market and this outflow cannot be absorbed by younger generations entering the labour market. Digitalisation is taking over repetitive tasks, however, this is not happening fast enough to completely solve the labour market mismatch. We will have to push for talent development and job crafting to tackle this mismatch. There are also constantly new developments in the field of labour market legislation. We will continue to take the lead in steering these developments in the right direction, with the major goal of securing a transparent and balanced job market, without bias, in which organisations and talent are perfectly connected. And we believe that becoming a B-Corp certified company complements this ambition.

We remain committed to technology to further unlock the human touch of our colleagues. Tech enables touch. Both must be perfectly balanced to further increase the satisfaction of our customers who are on a journey with us. We are well on track to achieve our main objective: to become the leading international HR tech solutions provider. It’s all about daring: daring to be innovative and daring to lead.

Hoofddorp, 29 March 2024

Marion van Happen CEO HeadFirst Group

Total network of HeadFirst Group

>180,000 Professionals of suppliers in our network

>80,000 Independent professionals in our network

>20,000 Suppliers of professionals in our network

>260,000 Professionals

The total number of professionals in our network increased by 32% in 2023.

"We provide clients, independent professionals, and suppliers with both digital and physical access to one another. Connecting is our core business."

ABOUT US

We are HeadFirst Group, a leading and innovative international HR tech solutions provider. We connect and contract more than thirty thousand people every year. Together, these highly skilled talents work more than 30 million hours a year for top-tier organisations, helping them to achieve their important business goals.

We primarily place mission-critical white-collar professionals in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), finance, business, and other highly skilled roles in our wide network of clients across a variety of sectors, including energy, technology, chemicals, banking, system integrators, government, and semi-government.

Vision

We believe that change is the only constant:

• Technological changes, such as the rise of AI and robotics, may seem frightening to some. For us, it is stimulating. We thrive on change. Tech offers an opportunity to enable that unique human touch.

• Our society is becoming more flexible. These days, it is not about the type of contract, it is about the ideal worklife balance. As a total talent solutions provider and a great place to work, we cherish this balance.

Because of these trends, the job market is highly dynamic. In addition, labour legislation is making it even more complex to recruit and hire staff.

Our vision is that we are at the core of these dynamics. This is where we excel. We are there to improve the job market for professionals.

"We believe that the next world of work will be increasingly tech-enabled, without bias, and regardless of the type of contract. We dare to lead into that world."

Our role

All these changes have a major impact on the way work is organised. We shape these changes. As a rapidly expanding ecosystem with a passion for people and tech, we solve the challenges for our clients.

We support preeminent organisations who are looking for mission-critical talent and we support professionals (flex and permanent) who are looking for their next challenge. In addition, we help delivery partners find the best assignments for their employees. In short, we orchestrate the chain.

We are eager and constantly challenge ourselves to improve the job market for professionals. We aim to stay ahead of the game and we learn every day. That is why we dare to lead.

Mission

We strive, together with our rapidly growing network, for one common goal: a transparent and balanced job market, without bias, in which organisations and talent are perfectly connected.

Our core values

Customer first

Customer first may sound obvious. For us, however, it means so much more. First of all, we invest in technology to enable human touch, aiming for the ultimate experience for our external customers (clients, suppliers, and independent professionals). At the same time, we also see our employees as customers. We also want our colleagues to treat each other the way they would like to be treated as customers themselves – by listening, keeping appointments, and giving honest feedback.

We are progressive in terms of reliable solutions, constantly setting the standard. How we do this, however, is continuously developing. Importantly, we are always looking to create added value for our customers. We cater to the best partners in the market. We listen, develop, and create value.

Clients are our partners to whom we provide proactive advice and monitoring. Our professional maturity is evident in our perception of the market and proactive advice. Moreover, our relationship with customers approaches that of business friends. This relationship allows us to be honest with each other, which is better for each party. If we develop, our customers develop with us – and vice versa. That is what we mean by ‘customer first’.

Connecting people

We provide clients, independent professionals, and suppliers with both digital and physical access to one another. Connecting is our core business. We connect people to careers, with the aim of helping them to achieve success. We connect clients with the best talent, helping them to move their organisations forward. We are always looking for unique new connections that will take us further in these challenging times in which good entrepreneurship is rewarded. The concept of ‘joining forces’ is always top of our mind.

Although we may be large within our market, we remain a flat organisation and do not place any one person above another. We have become large by staying small. We listen to our colleagues and think in terms of opportunities. We aim to offer these opportunities both to young talent and to experienced professionals with a young mindset who want to set the tone. We do not achieve success alone. Working together on the ‘we factor’ is key. That is how we continue to build connections, always.

Learn every day

Continuing development is a necessity, not an option. We learn every day by listening to our clients, partners, and professionals, so that our journeys result in seamless fast lanes to jobs and talent. We look for colleagues who match our sense of entrepreneurship. We expect ownership and give freedom and responsibility in return. In these dynamics, we learn from them. Success never goes unnoticed, and outstanding achievements are rewarded. We want our colleagues to be critical, but in a positive way. In this way, step by step, we can create an even more professional organisation every day – together.

We also encourage development among our customers. We help professionals to learn from one another through training, knowledge events, and communities. We take on tasks for clients, suppliers, and independent professionals, leaving them free to concentrate on what they do best. We feel encouraged to develop together with all our customers, day by day. We dare to lead.

Financial

2.6 billion gross invoice value

76 million gross profit

38 million EBITDA (underlying)

Environment

Climate change/climate adaptation/energy

694 tCO2 (scope 1, 2 & 3)

Social

Own workforce

Secure employment

22.4% attrition rate

126 net job creation

3.8% absenteeism due to sickness

Gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value

To be reported

Professionals in the chain

Equal employment conditions

30% with Premium or Excellent Services

Customers

Full support on compliance issues

Minimising litigation

Governance

Political engagement

Lobbying professionals

Training and skill developments

483 attended online courses in HeadFirst Group Academy

305 in-class training courses attended

5,884 hours online & in-class training

Diversity

Gender ratio: 49% male, 51% female

42 employees under age 25, 36 over age 55

• Continuity for all stakeholders

• Attractive business partner

• Reduction of CO2 emissions

• Contribution to Paris Climate agreement

• Environmental impact reduction

• Certified rating for Great Place to Work:

• Physically and emotionally safe workplace;

• Professional growth;

• Feeling that you are welcome regardless of age, background, gender etc.

• Well-insured loyal professionals with a grip on cashflow

• Loyal customers

Data protection, privacy and cybersercurity

ISO 27001 certification

• Job security professionals

• Safe feeling

HR tech solutions for you

HeadFirst Group offers clients a wide range of permanent and flex solutions for labour market issues. These are most easily explained on the axis of high tech and high touch, indicating which services are strongly techdriven and which are strongly human-driven. By combining these services as building blocks, we offer solutions to every challenge. We serve our two other customer groups –independent professionals and delivery partners – with our Professionals & Partners services.

SIDE

"By using smart automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the end-to-end process of sourcing, matching, contracting, and paying staff can be completely digitalised."

Platform solutions

By using smart automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the end-to-end process of sourcing, matching, contracting, and paying can be completely digitalised. This enables us to add personal touch points in our journey where they really add value. This offers speed, convenience, and cost efficiency to our customers.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

We provide managed services so that clients can outsource (a part of) the process to find, select, hire, and manage temporary staff to us. We fully support organisations, ranging from identifying labour needs to reporting. We usually implement a Vendor Management System (VMS) to facilitate this process optimally.

What we do as an MSP for temporary staff, we also do with our Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) service for permanent staff.

Intermediary services

We fill assignments with suitable professionals by recruiting or sourcing (international) talent based on hiring needs. We also take over practicalities (e.g. contracting, invoicing, payrolling, and tax compliance), mitigating risks for both organisations and professionals regarding aspects of (external) employment.

Talent sourcing

The demand for IT specialists – or more broadly referred to as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) profiles – is and will remain high in the coming years, as the visual on page 17 shows. It requires a community-driven personal approach with perseverance to connect the best professionals to our clients. That is what we do with talent sourcing.

Professionals & Partners services

Our professionals and partners can make use of a variety of services, grouped together in service packages, including personalised matching and tailored offers of assignments, coverage under liability insurance, guaranteed payment within 14 or 10 days, and opportunities for training and development.

Our journey of continued growth

Gross invoice value (x € billion)

Gross profit (x € million)

Acceleration (2017 – today)1

Total growth

billion, of which organic growth

billion

1995 2017 2021 2018 2022 2020 2023

HeadFirst is established, with ING as its first client.

2012

Introduction of the Professionals & Partners services.

HeadFirst launches its online platform Select (renamed Striive in 2023).

HeadFirst merges with sector partner Source, becoming part of the listed HeadFirst Source Group N.V.

HeadFirst acquires intermediary Myler and managed service provider Staffing Management Services. The organisation is taken private.

Between Staffing Group and HeadFirst Group join forces. This makes us an HR services provider with over 14,000 professionals working for more than 450 clients, primarily located in the Benelux, on a daily basis.

With the acquisition of recruitment specialist Sterksen, we become a Total Talent Service Provider, with a focus on both externl hiring and permanent employment.

1 The results of the acquired companies are included as from the year of acquisition on a pro forma basis

Organic growth continued, placing >27,500 mission critical professionals at top-tier organisations. We made four strategic acquisitions to increase scope in depth, tech and geography.

HeadFirst Group acquires Impellam Group to create a leading global player in MSP and missioncritical talent solutions.

MANAGEMENT REPORT

Market developments and trends

Geopolitical developments

Intense wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, trade routes under pressure, shifting political centres of power, and climate change. These geopolitical shock waves and global changes are altering the world order. Which is

compounded by the insight that in countries where, combined, more than half the world's population lives, voters will go to the polls in 2024. What are we going to see in these countries: unification or increased polarisation? All these developments impact our organisation in some

STEM professionals show considerable growth potential

form - directly or indirectly. Climate change is an important issue for every organisation. The economies in the countries in which HeadFirst Group operates are, to a greater or lesser extent, linked to those in which there is unrest. The organisations that we serve are each impacted in their own way by different geopolitical developments, and therefore it also indirectly impacts us.

Shortage of professionals

European and global labour shortages are very visible, and this is structural. This is also confirmed in a report1 by the European Employment Services (EURES). ANext to the strucurally growing demand for STEM professionals, ageing is one of the obvious explanation as older generations leave the labour market and this outflow cannot be absorbed by younger generations entering the labour market. To illustrate: in the Netherlands, the ‘grey pressure’ was 34 percent in 2023. This means that for every person over 65, there were three people of working age (20 to 65). In the coming years, the grey pressure is expected to increase to almost fifty percent.2 This is also a global trend.

"European and global labour shortages are very visible, and this is structural."

Digitalisation is taking over more and more work, especially repetitive work. Digitalisation of labour-intensive processes and robots are partly filling the shortage in the labour market, but this is not happening fast enough to completely solve the labour market mismatch. Not to mention the fact that this mismatch also lies in skills that cannot simply be filled by digitalisation, robotisation, or artificial intelligence.

We will be faced with a period of scarcity on the labour market for many years to come. As shown in the visual on page 193, STEM profiles (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), in which HeadFirst Group mediates to a large extent, continue to grow in demand. Creativity will therefore be required to meet this demand.

Increasing flexibility

The labour market is becoming more flexible, in line with the needs of both organisations (demand side) and professionals (supply side). People increasingly want to decide for themselves where, when, and how they work. In the Netherlands, we have 1.2 million independent professionals, 16% of our workforce. This puts us in fifth place4 in the European ranking of the share of selfemployment. The growth in recent years is mainly due to

3 mckinsey.com

4 data.oecd.org

5 Statistics Netherlands, Dynamiek op de Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt [Dynamics in the Dutch Labor Market], February 2020.

an increase in the number of self-employed people offering their own knowledge and services. The majority of these independent professionals have consciously chosen this type of work in search of freedom and autonomy.5

For larger organisations, the temporary hiring of expertise, innovative capacity, and brainpower is an integral part of their strategic HR policy. They need to be flexible in terms of staff costs and activity level in order to move with the market and the economy. Based on the above facts and findings, we predict that increasing flexibility on both the demand and supply side of the labour market will continue to reinforce each other in the near future.

Sustainability

Just like scarcity and flexibilisation, the desire for sustainability is another trend that has been prevalent for many years. However, this trend is currently being accelerated by a number of developments. First of all, the war in Ukraine makes the world want to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, with green solutions being the obvious way to hit two birds with one stone. Second, young people are taking an emphatic and publicly visible stand on this issue, which pushes companies into action, even if only to remain an attractive employer for this target

group. And third, from 2025 onwards, a large group of companies will be obliged to report on their sustainability policy and performance due to the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

But most importantly we can not ignore the effects of global warming. That is why sustainability is at the core of what we do at HeadFirst Group, which is why we have been developing CSR activities for several years. In this report, you can read all about our goals and results on ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) topics.

"We will be faced with a period of scarcity on the labour market for many years to come."

This puts us in fifth place4 in the European ranking of the share of self-employment.

Technological developments

Technological developments have a major impact on our society, including the labour market. Developments such as robotics and artificial intelligence cause significant job losses, but they also create new jobs.

We distinguish three trends:

1. Repetitive tasks are disappearing

Robotisation and artificial intelligence have visibly taken off by 2023. Digital systems are able to process large amounts of data, recognise patterns, and learn from data. Work that is repetitive by nature is already being taken over by artificial intelligence and this will rapidly increase in the coming years.

2. Complementary jobs are changing

The amount of work in which people and technology work together is growing. There are currently almost no jobs that are not technically supported, and this development is accelerating exponentially now with the arrival of AI assistants, chat bots and the like.

3. New jobs are emerging

AI developers, prompt engineers, conversational experience, all new roles that have emerged since AI took off in a big way in 2023. Whatever other roles emerge, these skills are essential, digital skills and learning agility will become indispensable in the labour market of the future.

Digitalisation also influences HR processes within organisations and the services of labour market service providers like HeadFirst Group. We signal and foresee long-term growth in the adoption of tech-driven services such as providing managed services (MSP) using a vendor management system (VMS), recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) using application tracking software (ATS) and our different platform solutions.

Labour market legislation in the Netherlands

Labour market legislation in the Netherlands is constantly changing. Existing legislation is being amended and new legislation is being introduced. Previously, legislation was introduced to combat the negative effects of flexible labour, such as exploitation by labour intermediaries in the Placement of Personnel by Intermediaries Act (WAADI), unfair competition on employment terms in the Balanced Labour Market Act (Wet Arbeidsmarkt in Balans, WAB), and pseudo self-employment in the Assessment of Employment Relationships (Deregulation) Act.

And once again, new legislation is coming our way in 2024 and the years ahead, affecting clients, independent professionals, and labour market service providers. This includes:

• the Equal Opportunities in Recruitment Act (Wet toezicht gelijke kansen bij werving en selectie);

• European rules for platform work;

• a mandatory certification scheme for parties providing labour (Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling van arbeidskrachten, WTTA);

• a new approach with regard to the Assessment of Employment Relationships (Deregulation) Act (Wet verduidelijking beoordeling arbeidsrelaties en rechtsvermoeden, WVBAR)

Regarding the latter, the current government mainly focuses on the criterion of ‘being embedded in the client’s organisation’, which has as its premise that a hired professional should not be allowed to do the same work as someone in permanent employment. The implementation (and misinterpretation) of this criterion could have major consequences for the flexible labour market.

We continue to campaign for a good solution that combats pseudo self-employment at the lower end of the labour market, while allowing conscious self-employed workers at the higher end of the market to conduct their business without restrictions.

"Digital skills and learning agility will become indispensable in the labour market of the future."

Flexibilisation trend

The trend of scarcity and entrepreneurship in the labour market is a global, ongoing trend.

Uniform social system

In the Netherlands, we need to create a basic social system for all workers, regardless of contract type or legal status. Social security should be provided at the level of the individual.

Customisation

Laws and regulations to solve problems with freelancers at the lower end of the market should not have a negative impact on the top segment of the market. Tailormade legislation should be provided, keeping in mind the diversity in the freelance population.

Public affairs agenda

The constantly changing labour market legislation affects our organisation, but above all our customers: clients, suppliers, and independent professionals alike. That is why we strive to ensure that elected representatives and policymakers in The Hague have the know-how to make the right choices necessary for a balanced, fair labour market with sufficient room for entrepreneurs who want to be free to choose the way they add value to the Dutch economy. We have a public affairs agenda with these clear messages:

Proper regulation

Intermediaries and MSPs play a crucial role in connecting supply and demand and organising flexible labour in a well-regulated way.

Sustainable employability

The knowledge required for and the content of work are changing rapidly. Investing in education and training is important to guide workers – especially flexible workers – from job to job or from assignment to assignment.

Digitalising for more user centricity and shorter processes

Within HeadFirst Group, we started working on a major project last year behind the scenes: a completely revamped, digital onboarding of professionals as soon as they start working for our clients. In collaboration with screening platform Victoria ID, we are working on a faster and smarter way to conduct screenings - an important, but also time-intensive, part of onboarding. Gerjan Pranger, operations director at HeadFirst Group: "By further digitalisation the process, we are creating space to give personal attention to our professionals and partners at the times when it really adds value for them."

GERJAN PRANGER

"Developments move as fast as they can, but as slowly as they must."

Founder and CEO of Victoria ID Stéphanie Eikhoudt: "With Victoria ID, we want to introduce a new validation method. Together with HeadFirst Group, we are working to reduce screening lead times by automating the process as much as possible. For example, we use validated ID data for simultaneous checks, resulting in faster results and guaranteeing the reliability of the information."

Accelerating processes with AI cross-check technique

Stéphanie passionately and enthusiastically discusses this method. "With our revamped AI cross-check technique, we elevate data validation to a higher level where our software reads authenticity features faster and more accurately than ever before. This allows us to significantly speed up the screening process for all of HeadFirst Group's clients. We adhere to high quality standards in validation processes, emphasising efficiency, ease of use, and customisation."

Gerjan Pranger, operations director at HeadFirst Group, leads this multidisciplinary project. "Instead of conducting screenings ourselves, it makes much more sense to have a specialised party handle this. Victoria ID is not just a supplier but truly a partner. We develop, test, gather information, and build the best flow together. It's a very intensive collaboration that contributes to further development for both organisations."

STÉPHANIE EIKHOUDT

"High quality standards emphasising efficiency, convenience, and customisation."

Building bridges together

Gerjan continues: "We aim to create a fully digital workflow and shorter processing times. That's one of our project management principles. After the testing phase and a successful pilot with Rabobank, it's now time to tackle process challenges. For example, what is the smartest technically, but most importantly, what works best for the user? Everything needs to align, which requires time and attention. We're building bridges together as we cross them."

"Our focus lies on bringing together different teams, each with their own expertise. Creating synergy and motivating teams are fundamental to the success of our project.

Through this collective effort, we have been able to refine our strategies during the pilot phase. In 2024, we will celebrate a significant milestone: the full integration and implementation of this innovative platform," concludes Stéphanie.

Business development and innovation

2023 was another year of strong organic growth. And at the same time, we laid the foundations for successful years to come, with our ‘5 bold steps’, which continues to be our strategy for the coming years. Our 5-year strategy is standing strong and helping us to reach our goals in a structured manner.

Clear tech roadmap

Our organisation is transforming into an HR tech solution provider with a digital platform, where smart technology enables the human touch of our colleagues. A clear tech roadmap is essential in this.

We took huge steps forward in 2023 in digitalisation, in many different areas. We rebranded our platform Select, launched in 2011, into Striive, our new platform brand with a greatly improved user interface. Professionals and partners can now navigate the platform even more easily in their search for new assignments. A huge milestone is the going live of our new contracting module in Striive, which helps users navigate more smoothly than ever through the contracting process, with the ambition: complete the whole contracting process in 15 minutes on a mobile device. Striive will soon be the place where all assignments and all professionals and suppliers of the various brands within our group can be found.

Our marketing team revamped the websites for HeadFirst Group, both the corporate website and employer brand and job site, our talent sourcing brand Sterksen, and gave inhuurdesk.nl a new look. A new CRM system (HubSpot) was also implemented, replacing several other systems, professionalising our sales process, and providing opportunities for marketing automation. In addition, we digitalised all customer journeys and the feedback technology Ratecard was rolled out group-wide. This gives us ongoing insight into customer satisfaction and enables us to collect a lot of feedback as input for our continuous improvement process.

Another notable tech development within the group was the presentation of our ProUnity brand's mobile app. In this app, professionals and delivery partners can manage information, confirm timesheets, and create and submit invoices. The functionalities will be further expanded in 2024.

Of course, we also remain committed to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We have welcomed a product owner RPA & AI, who is tasked with directing the roadmap. We implemented an in-house AI chat agent for all colleagues. Especially in the matching process, a lot has been invested in combining data and AI tools into smart new ways to make faster and more successful matches. Our digital colleague Benthe is robotising labour-intensive processes with many repetitive tasks. She now automatically enters almost every hiring request from mailboxes and third-party systems into our platform.

"Our organisation is transforming into an HR tech solution provider with a digital platform, where smart technology enables the human touch of our colleagues."

Tech development history

This timeline highlights key milestones in our technological evolution, reflecting our enduring commitment to innovation and efficiency. Explore the pivotal developments that have shaped our growth and success in the HR tech landscape.

SEGMENTS

2008

• Launch of first online intermediairy platform

• Start partnership with third party ATS (Carerix)

2012

• Start partnerships with third party VMS (i.g. Nétive)

2013

• Introduction of Professionals & Partners services in platform (Select)

2011

• Launch of next generation online platform (Select)

2018

• Launch hiring desk website per client

2019

• Start data platform with datawarehouse

• Addition time registration module to platform (Select)

• Upgrade contracting module (faster and easier) in platform (Select)

• Start Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

• Extension scope of platform to Benelux

• Introduction of PowerBI as data-visualisation platform

• Repackaging of Professionals & Partners services in platform

2015

• New front-end for online platform (Select)

2020

• Step up to ecosystem by developing own middleware, started with SAP integration and website integration

2022

• Acquisition Vendor Management System (VMS, ProUnity)

• Acquisition direct sourcing platform (OpenTalent)

• Launch self service product or clients (Striive)

• Addition Professionals & Partners services platform to the group

• Automation liability insurance for professionals as part of P&P services

• Automatisation complete job inflow with RPA

• Cognitive search chatbot in MS Teams

2023

• Renewal of contracting module in platform (Striive)

• Introduction of new platform brand (Striive) with enhanced user interface

2021

• Extension data platform with data lake

• Implementation new group-wide CRM software (HubSpot)

• Recruiters' PA: AI-driven efficiency in administration to create better matches

"We have successfully increased our customer satisfaction group-wide by over 30 (European) net promoter score (NPS) points."

Data-driven organisation

The subtitle of this strategic pillar reads Get the organisation ready, by which we mean that the basics must be in place for further growth and innovation.

In 2023, we again made progress in advancing our important, core processes: matchmaking, contracting, and finance. To achieve this, we apply the 'North Stars', where we first create a vision and then work towards it step by step and project by project. This working method suits our hands-on organisation perfectly. Tangible results are:

• The average number of bids on assignments has increased significantly by 2.7 to 5.7.

• The average turnaround time to complete a file for a contract has been reduced by 31%.

• We successfully guided 175 clients from timesheet invoicing to self-billing, which standardises our billing procedures.

• Through insights from thousands of completed customer feedback forms, we have successfully increased our customer satisfaction group-wide by over 30 (European) net promoter score (NPS) points.

Our business intelligence (BI) team has taken important steps towards creating a data lake, in which we collect all data from the group labels. To access this data lake, we built numerous new dashboards with rich insights for colleagues and clients. We have also made a benchmarking tool available to various audiences:

• to professionals to determine their market value

• to clients to benchmark their hiring application

• to our own recruiters to be even better able to source the right candidate at the right price

In addition, we also took the desired steps to connect and visualise data about our funnel, from euros spent on online ads to revenue at the end of the process. Like all customer feedback, this provides a world of information to improve our customer journeys.

Next-level services

The demand from our customers – clients, suppliers, and independent professionals – for full-service providers has been increasing for years. We responded to this early on by uniting a wide range of solutions for clients within our group through targeted acquisitions. For our independent professionals and suppliers, we have the Professionals & Partners services, which we are constantly developing.

As an important step in our strategy to be the lifelong flexible career partner for the self-employed, last year we made it possible for professionals to purchase our

Professionals services even when they are not working through a HeadFirst Group brand. This is linked to two other developments: 1) the repackaging of our suite of services and 2) the go-live of our Professionals & Partners services hub, seamlessly connected to our core Striive platform.

HeadFirst Group consists of a combination of brands with their own identity and solutions, but the strength is in the synergy and collaboration. Also on that front, we have had a very good year. We were able to grow 21% fully organic, through commercial successes and by combining solutions for our clients. In our 2022 annual report, we wrote "the transforming labour market requires creative solutions, where making combinations of high-tech and high-touch solutions will, in our view, be the key to success". That has proved true and stands firm for 2024.

Leading this platform in the Benelux

To become the leading platform in the Benelux, we have to digitalise our processes to the max and scale up our business. These two things combined make this bold step possible. Digitalising the full end-to-end process is one of the main goals of our new platform brand Striive. We believe that through the smart use of automation and AI, the end-to-end process of sourcing, matching, contracting, and paying professionals can be extensively digitalised, so that we can add personal touches at the moments where they really add value for our customers.

Our other platform solution is OpenTalent, a direct sourcing platform that connects companies with its community of tens of thousands of professionals in 29 European countries. In addition to the connecting power of the platform, OpenTalent has a recruiter community of thousands of independent recruiters throughout Europe, who supply candidates on a ‘no cure, no pay’ basis. Clients can also build their own talent pool and hire directly from it. With OpenTalent, we are scaling up our candidate network and local sourcing power across Europe.

We are proud that we were able to conclude several agreements with new clients who have jointly opted for our services: 1) the immigration chain includes The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and the Repatriation & Departure Service (DT&V), 2) the Union of Water Boards represents the interests of 21 water boards in the Netherlands and 3) our ProUnity brand's contract with Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) offers the possibility of offering the same service to other central banks in European countries. At the same time, we are pleased to continue our relationships with valuable existing customers, including the Ministries of Defence, Infrastructure and Water Management, Finance, and General Affairs.

Expansion into European markets

In recent years, our international strategy mainly focused on growing our services at existing, satisfied customers in countries outside the Netherlands. In 2022, two tech companies became part of the group to drive our international strategy (and our tech landscape) forward: ProUnity and OpenTalent. By 2023, they have made good progress.

In the last month of 2023, we were pleased to share the news that HeadFirst Group and Impellam Group will join forces, which was ratified in March 2024. Together, we are set to become one of the world’s leading STEM talent and Managed Service Providers with a distinctive HR tech platform for professionals. Our combination, with over €8 billion in revenue (managed spend, by 2023), will enable accelerated growth opportunities in Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, and the APAC region.

For HeadFirst Group, Impellam represents an attractive opportunity to invest in one of the world's market-leading Managed Service Providers and a leading group of companies specialising in recruitment for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professionals. There is a clear strategic rationale for the combination of HeadFirst Group and Impellam that is expected to deliver the following benefits:

• Complementary culture, skill sets and expertise to drive growth;

• Global scale: creating a larger group with a global infrastructure benefiting our clients with increased geographical coverage to expand share of wallet;

• New customer opportunities by expanding the breadth, depth and scale of capabilities and offerings such as SOW (Statement of Work), Services Procurement and RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing);

• Increased market share by leveraging an expanded STEMtalent workforce;

• Increased operational and business performance as well as expansion of digital capabilities by leveraging HeadFirst Group's distinctive HR tech platform;

• Cross-sell opportunities to provide Impellam’s professionals with additional value such as training & development and financial & insurance services;

• Career development and career progression opportunities for colleagues;

• An experienced and tenured combined management team which will lead the long-term strategy of the enlarged Group.

Great place to work

By the end of 2022, we were named a Great Place to Work for the first time, a wonderful recognition that our employees appreciate our efforts and very fitting with regard to the role of attractive employer that we aspire to. At the end of 2023, at the second measurement, we were awarded the certificate again. Above all, we are proud that we experienced a 10% increase in employee satisfaction. On page 60, you can see on which topics we are appreciated in particular.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, we defined our new purpose with a large group of colleagues: join the next world of work. This led to an updated house style and an employer branding campaign with the slogan 'we shake up the world of work'. To let the colleagues live out the purpose properly, we had a custom-made escape room developed in our HeadFirst Group Theatre, where, every month for a year now, thirty colleagues get in touch with who we want to be in a playful way.

"We organised an employer branding campaign with the slogan 'we shake up the world of work'."

And we love 'fun' in more ways than one. In 2023, we celebrated three great parties for our staff in Disco Classics Reloaded, Summer Party, and Winter Wonderland themes. But we also like to combine fun with sports. For instance, we offer boot camps and yoga in the gym at our head office. We have an indoor football team and a group of colleagues participated in the Dam tot Damloop. The highlight of the year on that front was the participation of 19 colleagues in the Alpe d'HuZes, which raised €53,000 for KWF for scientific cancer research.

As part of our core value of 'Learn every day', we organised numerous knowledge sessions and webinars for colleagues on various topics such as cognitive flexibility, as well as ChatGPT. Most notable among these sessions was Rico Verhoeven, GLORY Heavyweight World Champion Kickboxing. He came to our theatre especially for us to inspire us with his life story.

Last but not least, we held a successful Works Council election. Nine colleagues from different brands of the group were elected as members of the Works Council. They are the spokespeople on behalf of all colleagues in consultations with the organisation's management.

Structural growth drivers of our business

Flexibility

As described earlier, the labour market is becoming more flexible, in line with the needs of both organisations (demand side) and professionals (supply side). People increasingly want to decide for themselves where, when, and how they work. For large organisations, the temporary hiring of expertise, innovative capacity, and brainpower is an integral part of their strategic HR policy. This aligns with our services focused on flexible work.

Scarcity

The trend of an ongoing shortage of knowledge workers means that organisations have a continuing need for support in recruiting both temporary and permanent personnel. By combining tech- and human-driven services, HeadFirst Group has all the building blocks in place to offer tailored solutions to scarcity-driven challenges.

Regulation

As described earlier, there is a lack of clarity around labour market legislation in the Netherlands. Various laws have made the hiring of external staff increasingly complex over the past few years. The wide array of regulations has prompted organisations to seek outside assistance in this area. This trend is likely to continue in the coming years. Through its contracting service, HeadFirst Group is well-positioned to provide this assistance.

Tech & data

We are still in the middle of the digitalisation era. Organisations have a world to gain if they are able to reduce labour scarcity through smart tech. The demand for online and IT specialists will continue to grow in the coming years. HeadFirst Group has been strong in this field since its inception.

Platformisation

Platforms have emerged as disruptors, mainly in consumer markets where an online solution quickly proved capable of displacing the established order. In the labour market, this is taking place more gradually, as it has been a human-driven market for decades. HeadFirst Group invests in platformisation because we believe it is possible to fully digitalise the end-to-end process of sourcing, matching, contracting, and paying staff, so that we can add personal touch points in our journey where they really add value for our customers.

Supply and demand request full service

You can see it in several markets: specialist service providers are joining forces to become a full-service provider together. Why? Because customers demand this. Clients are looking for the one-stop shop for their labour market issues. And suppliers and independent professionals need one place where all available jobs can be found. If they can also obtain additional services there in the area of learning & development, insurance, payment, mobility, and more, it makes professional life even easier.

Strategy

The #1 digital first platform in Total Talent Management with human touch as differentiator.

STRUCTURAL

GROWTH DRIVERS OUR 5 BOLD STEPS STRATEGY

PURPOSE & POSITIONING

OPERATIONAL & FINANCIAL TARGETS

#1 Partner of choice for our professionals, suppliers & clients

Supply

Partner in lifelong flexible career Platform

The fast lane to great jobs

Demand

The flexible partner for clients

Employees

A great place to work

Sustainability

People and Partners

Business performance

We service 100k professionals

We partner with >1,000 clients

We partner with >20k suplliers

We realise EBITDA 100m+

The leading HR tech solutions provider in 2027

To go full speed ahead with a clear goal, in 2020 we formulated three 2025-visions for innovation: a vision for the supply side, a vision for the demand side, and an overarching vision to become a leading platform company. By adding a concrete ‘5 Bold Steps’ plan, we are mapping out the strategic steps towards realising these visions.

We are still following the previously formulated 2025-visions and are well on track to achieve the goals. We will continue this strategy even more focused on growth areas towards 2027.

The core of our vision is as follows: by 2027, HeadFirst Group will be leading the way and offering a fast lane for matching supply and demand of work through our platform. On the supply side, we aim to be the preferred partner for professionals who strive for a lifelong flexible career by focusing on unburdening and supporting them in the most personalised way. On the demand side, the way we support our clients will be driven by an optimal balance between technology and human touch. Digitalising the process where this is possible will allow for more time for personal contact when it matters.

Our ‘5 Bold Steps’ plan:

1. Clear tech roadmap: we will innovate our platform for seamless matchmaking, contracting, and service flows.

2. Data-driven organisation: we will focus on fully data-driven continuous improvement.

3. Next-level services: we will be a trusted advisor to clients and offer value-added services to professionals and suppliers.

4. Leading platform in the Netherlands: we will scale up as a data-driven, automated, open platform, while targeting new segments.

5. Expansion into European markets: we will offer specific services tailored to local conditions.

Lifelong flexible career

Our vision on the supply side

Our vision of the world in 2027

It is 2027, and the majority of the Northwest European labour market is now flexible. As a result, the economy is very much driven by independent professionals. These professionals, young and old, expect a career that is always in development and that gives them room to be entrepreneurial. However, this flexibility often leads to a lack of personal development and interaction with peers, which used to be available to employees in large companies. For this reason, there has been a shift towards communities of independent professionals and suppliers. As part of these communities and networks, people with decades of experience openly share their knowledge with the group of younger professionals.

HeadFirst Group’s value for our customers

With its Striive platform, HeadFirst Group has become the standard partner for independent professionals and suppliers who focus on a lifelong flexible career. We unburden and support workers with perfectly balanced tech and personal services. HeadFirst Group has managed to claim this spot by offering ‘career partner’ solutions to these professionals. These solutions include assignment-toassignment mediation, upskilling and training, personal mentoring and career planning, cross-company traineeships, and permanent advice; all designed to propel people forward towards their next dream role. In this way,

HeadFirst Group provides the support environment that corporates used to provide in the past.

HeadFirst Group is serving a growing base of younger workers. We have been able to onboard young talent by working with universities and offering flexible traineeships. The tailored career guidance programme helps young professionals take the necessary steps to get the jobs they dream of; after all, a career is a series of stepping stones. For people who want to be part of a community, online or face-to-face, there are guilds where specialists share their experiences. For people who want to focus on themselves, there are services for career security, such as insurance and pension schemes. This move towards being a full HR service provider has propelled HeadFirst Group to servicing over fifty different communities covering a professional base of over 250,000 professionals in the Netherlands.

The flexible partner

Our vision on the demand side

Our vision of the world in 2027

It is 2027, and the HR/recruiting industry in Northwest Europe has become more and more digitalised. Dedicated HR platforms have automated most of the matchmaking process and are now advising companies on best practices. In this way, players like HeadFirst Group have transitioned from an administrative role to a full HR tech solutions provider, shaping the landscape further and further. Large technology-driven companies were early adopters of using

service providers like HeadFirst Group for HR value added services and consulting such as recruitment process outsourcing, strategic workforce planning, legal and compliance services, and data-driven process optimisation. Following in their footsteps, all companies that use a temporary workforce are now making use of these services.

HeadFirst Group’s value for our customers

HeadFirst Group is leading in Europe when it comes to best practices. We proactively and strategically advise Europe’s largest corporations in the field of work. HeadFirst Group supports companies with the management of their total workforce. Advisory services are driven by an optimal balance between technology (tech) and human touch (touch). Digitalising the process allows for more time for personal contact when it matters.

In the Netherlands and abroad, HeadFirst Group has developed a scalable way of using soft skills to find the best talent. An example of this is a strong referral proposition, where the network of HeadFirst Group and the professionals within it refer the best talent based on personal experiences. The approach is twofold. Firstly, on the technology front, the company has designed best-inclass tech solutions for every step of strategic workforce planning. Secondly, the company has manifested itself as the clear No. 1 thought leader in Northwest Europe for HR services. This knowledge has allowed HeadFirst Group to complement a standardised approach with companytailored advisory services.

The fast lane to great jobs

Our vision on HR tech and the role of our platform

Our vision of the world in 2027

It is 2027, and the Northwest European labour market has become increasingly flexible. On the one hand, a technology revolution with advancements in artificial intelligence and interconnectivity has led to a further push towards a European platform economy. Matchmaking has been completely automated, and by connecting systems via APIs, network effects are created throughout the European labour market. This has enabled one main flexible employment platform across Northwest Europe.

On the other hand, the autonomous behaviour of (young) professionals and their wish to have a very flexible career, pushes the scarcity trend. Progressive large companies are trying to continuously tap into a fresh stream of talented knowledge professionals by using the new international flex platform. Professionals are finding their perfect jobs in both their own countries and abroad. Data-driven services increase the security and advancement of their careers.

HeadFirst Group’s value for our customers

HeadFirst Group is the leading player in the market and is a data-driven organisation focused on continuous improvement, with an optimal balance of technology and human touch. HeadFirst Group has created a fast lane for matching the supply and demand of flex work. We have achieved this by creating a platform that has become top of the market by interconnecting this platform with other relevant systems and by creating top-notch features for professionals, suppliers, and companies. The platform is enriched by communities, partnerships with suppliers, and a strong referral machine. One million Northwest European freelance professionals and suppliers are using the platform. They love it because it provides quality, ease of use, and a trusted way of quickly finding the next great job at a fair rate.

Companies, on the other hand, are given insight into the most qualified knowledge professionals in the market and are making use of flex work more than ever. Talent pool suppliers are placing professionals in exciting projects at an unprecedented rate, facilitated by HeadFirst Group. By continuously updating the market on the latest industry developments, the platform is busier than ever, and HeadFirst Group is seen as the true thought leader in the field. The flex market is here to stay, and by providing a new way of working, HeadFirst Group has managed to create a winning proposition for supply and demand.

"HeadFirst Group is the leading player in the market and is a datadriven organisation focused on continuous improvement, with an optimal balance of technology and human touch."

Our stakeholders

We value an open dialogue with all our stakeholders. By listening carefully to each other, we can learn a lot from each other and can respond better to various developments in the ecosystem in which we operate. The illustration below shows our main stakeholders.

Clients

Organisations with important business goals, which we support with our products and solutions.

Suppliers

Our delivery partners are essential in serving our clients with the best professionals.

Employees of HeadFirst Group

Our ‘golden assets’, who we listen to, who enable us to grow, and who make our customers happy.

Shareholders HeadFirst Group

We coordinate our strategy, investments and progress in close contact with our shareholders.

Independent professionals

There are more and more of them, and they are mission critical for us and our clients.

Industry associations

We play an active role in various industry associations to drive the professionalism of our market forward.

Tech partners

The tech companies that plug their technology into our platform are an important part of our ecosystem.

Government

We are in close contact with institutions, policymakers and elected representatives to liaise on labour market legislation, social policy and sustainability.

Sustainability policy

Introduction

In this 2023 Annual Report, we took a further step towards CSRD compliance. To this end, we conducted a new materiality analysis using the material topics and sub-topics from the ESRS topical standard as a guideline. Based on this, combined with our earlier more entityspecific topics, we arrived at nine most material topics, as shown in the overview below. The current material topics

indicate more specifically where we can make an impact.

By making a distinction between own workforce, professionals in the chain, and customers under Social, we can also report better on our impact in the value chain.

Further in our report under 'about this report', you will find a more detailed description of the materiality assessment process.

Our policy is formulated along four sustainability axes with an emphasis on the most material topics within the axes, see below.

At the same time, we looked at the financial impact as part of the double materiality analysis required by CSRD. This has led to a better understanding of the subject matter and how we should focus our processes more specifically

on the specific ‘CSRD’ requirements. One of the key actions for 2024 is to further strengthen the foundation in order to be able to name and substantiate the specific issues in this report. On the next pages, you will find the description of the most material topics per axe (see above), an overview including actions in 2023, actions for 2024, followed by an explanation where necessary. At the same time, we also provide information on several other topics that are important for HeadFirst. However, these topics are not determined as most material in our materiality assessment.

Our ESG ambition

As an ever-growing HR tech solutions provider, we take our role seriously with regard to our responsibility for our impact on people, the environment, and society. The future is where success is measured not only in terms of profitability, but also by the value we create and the impact we have. It is important to work towards a sustainable future now by aiming for a positive social impact and a value chain with the lowest possible carbon emissions. With our ESG policy based on our four ESG pillars, we are preparing HeadFirst Group for the future.

With our impact, we shape the changes towards the next world of work, that is increasingly tech-enabled, without bias and regardless of contract type.

Together with our network, we strive for one common goal: a transparent, balanced, and inclusive job market, where organisations and mission-critical talent are perfectly connected. We accept this responsibility not only with respect to our own organisation and employees, but also to our clients, professionals, and suppliers. We focus on achieving a positive impact in the areas of people, the environment, and society, see also our value creation model.

Our ESG strategy

We operationalise our ambition with our ESG policy based on four pillars and our nine material topics and have processes in place to drive progress and follow up on our sustainability work. The Board has made ESG a top priority by categorising it as a strategic project. This means that we work on ESG according to the Transformation Office processes. Therefore, there is a project charter, a detailed roadmap and tasks are assigned to the responsible departments/project team members. Progress is reported to the Board periodically. We have a reporting structure in accordance with CSRD based on KPIs and set targets. This ensures continuous improvement of our sustainability work. In addition, continuous improvement is also fuelled by our yearly assessments in EcoVadis and assessments we make for our investors and clients. Emerging areas for improvement are added to the ESG roadmap.

Sustainability

As a group, we are contributing to the Paris Agreement by setting a science-based target in line with SBTi. We set a science-based 'near-term target' in 2022 to contribute to limiting global warming to well below 2°C. We are committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions by 23% by 2030 from a 2021 base year, and to measuring and reducing our scope 3 emissions.

Within our Sustainability axe, our most material topic is climate change and adaptation/energy.

Climate change and adaptation/Energy

We work to reduce our impact on the environment. One way to do this is by reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2. As a service provider, a significant share of our emissions is generated by mobility, both by our employees and our suppliers. Where possible, we opt for alternative, sustainable energy sources.

Material topics

KPIs

Climate change & adaptation/Energy tCO2

Targets

• Reduce CO2 footprint (scope 1 and 2) by 23% by 2030 from a 2021 base year and measure and reduce scope 3 emissions

• Absolute reduction of 2.6% per year

• ISO 14064 certificate

• CDP Disclosure (Climate Disclosure Project)

Actions 2023

• Reduce mobility-related carbon emissions, also in scope 3 (commuting of professionals)

• Awareness and inspiration programme for employees, customers, and professionals

• We are committed to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

• Participation in 2023 CDP Disclosure + CO2 audit (ISO 14064)

• EED (Energy Efficiency Directive) Audit

Risks

• Electric Vehicle (EV) delivery times slow down electric mobility

• Due to buy-and-build strategy adding on of less sustainable companies

• Due to scarcity of professionals, fewer sustainable options in terms of candidates

Results 2023

• CO2 reduction of 7.2% compared to 2021

• Verification CO2 footprint calculation on 28 November 2023

• More efficient use of offices by flex working

• Participation in CDP Disclosures 2023

• EED audit performed in October 2023

• Score of 80/100 on environment in EcoVadis 2023

Actions 2024 and beyond

• Investigate opportunity of solar panels on our premises

• Establish KPIs for cars vs employees and electric cars vs conventional cars

• Reporting on emissions commuting flexpool (25,000 persons per day)

• Sharing information with clients in order to give them insight into their own scope 3 emissions

• Further rationalising offices with focus on sustainable offices, LED lighting, timeframe adjustments

• Optimising the use of office space and use of more sustainable buildings

We focus on:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2

• Limiting climate change.

• Using energy efficiently and saving energy.

• Using sustainable and renewable energy. To reduce scope 3 emissions, we also started calculating the emissions of our entire pool of deployed professionals

Focus areas

Sustainable mobility

To reduce scope 3 emissions, we also started calculating the emissions of our entire pool of deployed professionals. After all, the 25,000 professionals who work through us every day contribute to our impact.

Our mobility policy is reviewed every year by our HR department in consultation with the Board. We focus on making our leasing policy more sustainable and stimulate working from home. With regard to the leasing policy, we do this by giving advice on a green car choice, lowering the maximum number of kilometres driven for business purposes (maximum 12,500 km per year) and offering pool cars. The use of public transport is encouraged by offering NS Business Cards and our head office is located less than 400 metres from a train station.

We have a flex policy 60/40 where collaboration is encouraged and facilitated in the office. To facilitate working from home, we provide employees with various conveniences, such as energy-efficient laptops, sustainable office furniture, and refurbished computer screens. Additionally, rooms, applications and equipment are set up to facilitate hybrid online and offline meetings. A professional recording studio was installed at our head office in January 2023 to make major corporate presentations and webinars look more professional and enable everyone to follow them.

Awareness and inspiration programme

To make sustainable choices, it is important to realise how you can reduce your own carbon footprint. We are currently working on awareness with calculation tools on our Professionals Services Hub where professionals can calculate their CO2 footprint for particular assignments and the hiring manager will receive an indication as to which candidate is the most sustainable option.

Our head office runs completely on green energy

Sustainable and energy-efficient building

The group moved to a new head office in 2022. The building was chosen for its excellent sustainable features. The building is located in a carbon-neutral office park in Hoofddorp, within a five-minute walk from the train station. The building is a sustainable cradle-to-cradle design with A-Label and BREEAM-NL Excellent sustainability certificate. Toilets are flushed with rainwater and the office park runs entirely on renewable energy. All materials in and components of the building were pre-assessed against cradle-to-cradle criteria, such as sustainable use and possibilities for reuse and recovery. Additionally, the head office runs completely on green energy.

By encouraging flexible working, such as working from home or logging on while on the train, we have saved 25% office space. In Belgium, we merged our offices into one building.

Renewable energy

We are investigating multiple additional steps towards realising the goal of a completely climate-neutral office building by 2030, for instance, by installing solar panels on our office buildings.

Our CO2 footprint

We report on our CO2 footprint in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14064. Our CO2 footprint calculation is assessed every year by an independent and certified auditor in accordance with ISO 14064. We continuously improve the completeness and accuracy of our environmental data and eliminate uncertainties. This has led to changes in methodology over the years and has also resulted in a rectification of the total reported CO2 emissions over 2022. Because of these changes, comparisons of total tCO2 are not 100% accurate. However, where we have insufficient insight, we deliberately make small overestimates of emissions. Consequently, as the data becomes more complete and more accurate, the reduction percentage should increase rather than decrease.

Methodology

An excel template is used to calculate and report our CO2 footprint, which calculates the CO2 footprint per scope based on emission factors. Emission factors are reviewed annually and based on the WTW (Well-to-Wheel) method: the emissions from both the pre-chain and direct emissions combined. We collect data of fuel, gas, and electricity consumption of all facilities based on meter readings or total square metres rented.

We collect the consumption data of our entire fleet from the different leasing companies. Business travel and commuting are calculated based on all declared kilometres in our HR system. Public transport consumption data is based on travel expenses declarations in our HR system.

All consolidated entities under HFBG Holding BV are included in the calculation. HFBG Holding BV acquired the shares of StarApple, StackOps, and ProUnity on 1 September 2023. The shares were previously held by Beryllium, but consumption data has been consolidated from 1 January 2023.

Changes to methodologies

In 2022, we split diesel, gas, and electricity emission factors based on specific country-related factors. In 2021, we reported on declared kilometres for commuting and business travel combined. As of 2022, we split declared kilometres in commuting and business travel. This did not change the outcome of total tCO2.

Uncertainties

• Our headquarters in Hoofddorp has been under our ownmanagement since 2022. This has helped us gain more insight into the data and also enabled us to plot our own course in terms of energy savings and use of renewable energy sources. Our other offices are in multitenant buildings, where water, gas, and electricity consumption are combined and allocated. Consumption is not based on our actual consumption but calculated from the consumption of the entire building using an allocation formula based on the number of square metres rented. Our influence on these elements is therefore minimal. However, our Property Manager joins the meetings with the building managers to influence

decision-making on sustainable issues wherever possible. We continue to ask operators to provide specifications of energy consumption or, for example, to install smart meters.

• We have no insight yet into the type of public transport. Therefore, we use an average conversion rate of €0.15 per km. This is a relatively low amount, because of this, emissions will be estimated slightly higher than they actually are.

• In Voorburg and Breda (in the Netherlands), all employees without a leased car receive a standard reimbursement for travel expenses of €0.21 per km calculated on the basis of their commuting distance. There is no actual data on the number of kilometres. This also leads to a small overestimation of total emissions.

• There is no insight into the type of transport used when calculating declared kilometres. Because detailed energy consumption data is not available, emissions are estimated using the designated factor from the passenger transport category: Car Fuel type unknown, Weight class unknown, Vehicle kilometres.

• Not all consumption data for The Hague and Voorburg had been finalised before the publication of this report. Therefore, consumption is estimated based on consumption in previous years and the number of rented m2

Results 2023

At present, we report on our absolute emissions. However, our organisation has experienced significant growth in both FTEs and revenue due to our ambitious buy-andbuild strategy. Despite this, our emissions remained roughly the same compared to 2021.This means that our relative emissions have decreased significantly. To get a better picture of this decrease, we have decided to measure our CO2 footprint against our revenue as of 2024. In doing so, we will adjust the data for inflation.

The huge drop in total tCO2 from 2021 to 2022 was the result of moving our headquarters to a sustainable park and thereby switching to green energy. The increase in CO2 emissions in 2023 in scope 1 and 3 is attributable to the acquisitions that took place and growth in FTEs and locations. (Breda, Brussels, Voorburg, and The Hague in the Netherlands)

Rectification 2022 data

Verification on the 2022 emission data led to corrections and changes in methodology. This resulted in a reduction of the total tCO2 from 612 to 496. We have made a distinction between gas and electricity consumption in the Netherlands and Belgium. In addition, there was double counting: EV charging sessions at our headquarters were included in our total energy consumption (Electricity consumption - green NL), but these were also included in the vehicle electricity consumption. We managed to disaggregate most of these charging sessions. As green electricity from the headquarters is used for these charging sessions, these charging sessions have been added to Electricity consumption - vehicles green NL. In 2023, we disaggregated all double counted charging sessions at our headquarters. The calculation of the emissions of green electricity was based on an emission factor of 0. However, upon verification it turned out that it was not completely green electricity but biomass with a small emission factor. This has been adjusted retroactively in the 2022 data. And finally, In the absence of data, the assumption was made last year that the heating in the Brussels premises comes from district heating. After further investigation, this turned out to be fuel oil. This is adjusted in the 2023 data.

TechMeUp's mission: diversity in the tech world

Creating a more diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem is the mission of TechMeUp. Despite many people wanting to upskill and retrain as a tech professional, not everyone has the financial means to do so. That's why TechMeUp provides interest-free loans to motivated students, enabling more people to access a tech education.

Saskia Verstege, Interim Managing Director of TechMeUp, says: "We collaborate with seventeen IT training providers. When students enrol for a tech course and realise that it will be a financial challenge, the training providers refer them to TechMeUp. When we look at the demographics of the students we assist, the average age is 34 years old, nearly 60% are women, and about 80% have a migrant background."

SASKIA VERSTEGE

"Nearly 60% of our students are women, and about 80% have a migrant background."

"We provide interest-free loans to students averaging €4,500, depending on their needs. This loan can be used to pay for the course itself, as well as to cover living expenses while attending the course. For many people, finances are a barrier to (re)starting their studies, as they may have to work less or not at all, yet they still have to pay their mortgage or rent. With the help of a loan from TechMeUp, these financial worries are alleviated. After completing their education and finding a job, they repay the borrowed amount gradually in instalments. With the repaid money, we help new students reskill."

Results

HeadFirst Group supports TechMeUp with a financial contribution. Thanks to this contribution, eleven students received a TechMeUp study loan in 2023. Nine of the students are still studying, and two students have now graduated. In addition to the achievements which were made possible by HeadFirst Group's contribution, TechMeUp helped 140 more students last year with an interest-free loan.

"In addition to making the tech world more diverse, our work also contributes to the financial self-sufficiency of the students. The average salary of the students before receiving a loan is €1,100, and the average salary after completing a tech training programme is €2,884."

"We aim to assist two hundred students in 2024, with 'everyone getting a job' as our main objective."

Future

“In 2024 we aim to assist two hundred students with a loan. In addition, we are putting our efforts into helping everyone get a job after graduation.”

A more diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem is the mission of TechMeUp. Despite many people wanting to upskill and retrain as a tech professional, not everyone has the financial means to do so. That is why TechMeUp offers interest-free loans to motivated students so that more people have access to tech education.

Decent work and lifelong learning

For us, decent work and lifelong learning mean that we continue to develop our own employees while also providing development opportunities to professionals and providing full support to our customers on compliance issues. In this way, we are increasing sustainable employability in the broadest sense.

Within this axe, we have three focus areas: own workforce, professionals in the chain, and customers. As a result of our stakeholder assessment, the most material topics within our own workforce are secure employment, training, and skills development. Within professionals in the chain, the most material topic is equal payment conditions and within customers, the most material topic turned out to be full support on compliance issues.

Own workforce

Secure employment

It is important to us that our employees feel that they belong with us and that we make a strong commitment to job retention. With our range of training courses, we offer everyone opportunities for further development and thus a greater likelihood of job security. We also offer a safe workplace and guidance, both physical and mental.

Material topics

Own workforce

• Secure employment

• Training and skills development

Targets

• GPTW score 8 out of 10

• Target for training hours to be set

KPIs

Actions 2023

• Internal mobility

• We have improved employee wellbeing satisfaction with our Great Place to Work certificate

• Further development of re- and upskilling in our learning and development platform MyCademy

Risks

• Great Place to Work not distinctive enough

• Training offer does not sufficiently match expectations

Score GPTW

# average training hours per employee

# social return

Results 2023

• GPTW score 7.7 (2022: 7.2)

• 483 attended online training courses

• 305 in-class training sessions

€265,000 invested in personal development of employees

• 8 employees in category social return

Actions 2024 and beyond

• Integration all HR data into AFAS

• GPTW 8+

• Mercer Job evaluation & benchmark

• Alignment policies HFG

• Organisational/ talent development

Training and skills development

We actively encourage our employees to develop and enhance their skills. We have our own online Academy, and we offer a wide range of training and education programmes. We also train colleagues in working with digital tools that help them in their daily work.

Focus areas

• Great Place to Work certificate final score: 7.7 (+7%)

• Do our colleagues find us a Great place to work: 82% 'yes'

• This is a safe and pleasant environment to work in: 9.4 (+4.4%)

• Providing training and/or development opportunities: 7.6 (+10.1%)

• Fair treatment regardless of gender, religion, or sexual orientation: 9.5 (=)

Great Place to Work certificate

As an employer, we are aware that we have a major role to play in caring for both physical and mental health. We are working hard to go the extra mile for our employees in this regard. This was rewarded with the Great Place to Work certificate that we obtained in 2022. To achieve this, we completed a Great Place to Work programme, through which we demonstrated that we are an employer where:

1) employees enjoy working, 2) there is trust in the organisation, and 3) employees are proud to be part of the HeadFirst Group. Certification ensures continued improvement of our employee wellbeing and satisfaction. Efforts that were made in 2023 on various topics resulted in an increase of 0.5 points.

Internal mobility

We see internal mobility, or the flow of employees within the organisation, as a good way to increase employee engagement and development. We offer both horizontal and vertical opportunities within HeadFirst Group. We have implemented a number of innovations to encourage internal mobility. We do this with a refreshed 'working at HeadFirst Group' website, by making it possible to see all job vacancies by HeadFirst Group label with one click. Our new app Cruit, on which all group job vacancies are listed, is also accessible to all employees. They can apply to the job themselves, but they can also post the job vacancy on social media. This does not directly increase internal mobility, but it can increase engagement with HeadFirst Group.

Integration of HR data

To respond even more efficiently to developments within the various labels of HeadFirst Group, we are going to integrate all HR data into AFAS. This will become the leading tool for our HRM data. The data of this tool and our recruitment tool Carerix will be visualised in PowerBi. The data can thus be used for analyses concerning, for example, mobility growth and pay gaps.

Learn every day

Our core value Learn every day is strongly reflected in our ESG axe ‘Decent work and lifelong learning’ and linked to the material topic training and skills development. We combine our focus on customer experience with the Lean philosophy, which is based on the principle that improvement initiatives come from the entire organisation instead of just from the top of the organisation, we have put our employees at the wheel of continuous improvement.

By continuously offering opportunities for development, we want to inspire people to remain employable in the rapidly changing labour market.

We provide training and career coaching and help overcome skills shortages with re- and upskilling tools. Our learning and development platform MyCademy provides access to courses, e-books, training, and knowledge-sharing sessions in various lengths. In addition, employees can follow training programmes or courses outside the MyCademy curriculum using the development scheme.

Vitality

Vitality is important at HeadFirst Group. We want our employees to be and remain healthy mentally, socially, and physically. Healthy people are full of energy and enthusiasm. They enjoy their work and work with passion and pleasure, which is also reflected in higher productivity and business results. Thus, the knife cuts both ways.

We offer our employees several possibilities to stay in good shape. There is a gym at our head office, which everyone

can use for free. At set hours, an instructor is present to assist with exercises. Employees can also participate in a bootcamp training every week.

In terms of their mental well-being, we support our employees with personalised guidance. We do this through the platform OpenUp. This online platform helps with all mental well-being issues in an accessible way. Whether this concerns work-related problems or issues in the private sphere. Anonymity is guaranteed and the platform is always accessible. OpenUp's motto is 'always a psychologist at hand - everywhere and on every subject'.

8 employees in the category social return

Social return own workforce

Within our own organisation, we like to offer a chance to candidates with poor employment prospects. By September 2023, HeadFirst Group has eight employees who fall within the category social return. We have several targets regarding social return, such as having at least two students every quarter working in our ICT and facilities departments who are following an MBO BOL internship (level 3-4).

Professionals in the chain

Equal employment conditions

We offer partners and professionals in our network the possibility to access facilities that support and advance their entrepreneurship.

For instance, we offer insurance, training facilities, accelerated payment of invoices, etc.

We call this our Professionals & Partners services, with Premium and Excellent packages.

Material topics

Professionals in the chain

• Equal employment conditions

Targets

• Full recognition for the Professionals & Partners services

Actions 2023

• Further development of re-and upskilling in our learning and development platform Select Academy

• Implementing the Social Return action plan launched in 2022

Risks

• Lack of understanding of the benefits of the Professionals & Partners services and unwillingness to pay for this service

KPIs

% professionals with Premium or Excellent service

Results 2023

• 30% professionals with Premium or Excellent service

Actions 2024 and beyond

• Offering of full occupational disability insurance

• Further optimising the onboarding process

Focus areas

The below-mentioned focus areas are the ones that are important for any professional to stay ahead of the competition and to feel secure about their career path.

We offer Premium and Excellent services to our professionals

Select Academy

Professionals with Premium and Excellent service have full access to courses, e-books, training, and knowledgesharing sessions in various learning paths. This enables them to continuously develop in order to become and remain employable.

Payment

We offer our professionals with Premium service advance payment of invoices. This is a way of supporting their entrepreneurship as good cash flow management is essential for independent professionals. On the other hand, we generate loyalty and recurring revenue.

Business & professional liability insurance

A lot of independent professionals are not well insured. They may not fully realise the importance of being adequately insured or it may be too complicated and time-consuming to find the best proposition.

In collaboration with our partner Alicia Benefits, we ensure that professionals are equipped with Business & Professional liability insurance within five minutes.

Striive

On the platform Striive that we introduced in 2023, further automation has made the onboarding process 36% faster, shortening it from 21 days to 14 days. This accelerated procedure not only enables professionals to start their assignments sooner but also benefits clients, as professionals can be employed quicker.

Select/Striive ICommunity Coverage (SICC)

SICC serves as a safety net in case professionals are temporarily unable to work. During this period, professionals can receive a monthly benefit for up to 2 years (30% percent of the average income). SiCC is only available for professionals in the “Excellent Professionals” category. Excellent is part of the Professionals Services.

The next step with Alicia Benefits is to arrange occupational disability insurance that covers the entire career of a professional.

Professionals Services Hub

The Professionals Services Hub is an environment where professionals can find a collection of widgets, services, and modules. The Professionals team is continuously integrating new tools in order to help our professionals achieve their goals. The main aim is to provide an

environment in which our professionals can develop so that they can grow within their expertise and to help them be a self-employed entrepreneur in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations (DBA).

Social return

To achieve an effective way of reaching and offering opportunities to candidates with poor employment prospects, we launched the 'Social Return Action Plan' in September 2022. The aim of our Action Plan is to create a valuable and efficient partnership with our social partners, focusing on the strength of our organisation: connecting professionals with clients. In this, we focus, in particular, on the following target groups: social return candidates, vulnerable people with poor job prospects, and jobseekers with an unusual CV.

To reach candidates with poor employment prospects, we have built a network with multiple diversity partners. For example, AutiTalent and Specialisterren, organisations that support professionals with autism to achieve their full potential in the workplace. We support these candidates with job coaching, finding appropriate projects, and facilitating an autism-friendly workplace. Another example is the cooperation with UWV and DJI, to bring jobseekers with an unusual CV, e.g. long-term jobseekers and ex-prisoners, back into the labour market. We accompany them during the recruitment and selection process and introduce them to our own and external job vacancies. We work together with our diversity partners on the basis

of an Impact Level Agreement, in which we lay down what our mutual efforts are and what minimum impact we want to create.

We have entered into agreements with numerous customers on the employment of social return candidates. To this end, our dedicated Social Return On Investment (SROI) Officer (as of January 2024) will also organise knowledge and inspiration sessions between customers, our diversity partners, and social return candidates.

An example of how we work with diversity partners is a customer where permit holders have been employed. In cooperation with the Refugee Talent Hub, we provided permit holders for an internal training programme at the customer. We then took care of the entire contractual settlement. The permit holders followed a four-month training programme with the aim of getting a job at the customer.

Customers

Full support on compliance issues

It is important to us that our customers - clients, partners, and professionals alike - can be fully confident that we ensure that the entire process from mediation to contracting and paying a professional complies with all legal requirements. We aim to provide a full-service solution to all our customers in terms of compliance.

"We aim to provide a full-service solution to all our customers in terms of compliance."

Material topics

Customers

• Full support on compliance issues

Targets

• 100% support of customers

Actions 2023

• NEN audit 4400-1

• Bovib

• SNA

Risks

• Increase in false self-employment

KPIs

NPS

Results 2023

• HeadFirst Group has everything it takes to work compliantly

• +2 (European NPS)

Actions 2024 and beyond

• Preparing customers for the upcoming Act on the Admission of Workforce Providers (Toelating ter Beschikkingstelling van Arbeidskrachten ( Act TTA))

• Increasingly selecting candidates by competence in order to make a better match

Focus areas

Full support of customers

Not only can and do we fully support our customers in terms of compliance, we also want to prepare them for what is to come in the rapidly changing legislative landscape. We are preparing HeadFirst Group and our partners for the upcoming Act on the Admission of Workforce Providers (wet Toelating ter Beschikkingstelling van Arbeidskrachten) that introduces an admission system for employment agencies and other companies that provide labour (lenders). The aim of this law is that these agencies and companies may supply workers only if they are authorised to do so. It is expected that the number and types of data to be processed will increase significantly. We see it as our role and responsibility to relieve suppliers of this burden and we are already discussing the implications with our partners.

Quality marks and certification

We carry the Bovib quality mark that guarantees that we are financially healthy and comply with measures and current laws and regulations when deploying or activating a hiring chain. This is assessed annually via an external audit by an independent inspection body.

We also carry the SNA quality mark. This is the standard of the Stichting Normering Arbeid (SNA) and is based on the national standards NEN 4400-1. It sets out financial and administrative criteria that a bona fide temporary employment agency must meet. The company is generally inspected twice a year by an accredited inspection body.

"We carry the SNA quality mark. This is the standard of the Stichting Normering Arbeid (SNA) and is based on the national standards NEN 4400-1."

Diversity, equity & inclusion

An inclusive equal and safe environment has our priority when it comes to social responsibility. Therefore, we take many initiatives to improve DE&I over a broad set of dimensions and report progress on targets. Within our own workforce, we focus on diversity and gender equality and equal pay for equal work.

Within this axe, we focus on our own workforce and its most material topics diversity, gender equality, and equal pay for equal work.

Own workforce Diversity

We aim to reduce and prevent inequality by not discriminating on the basis of gender, age, ethnicity, religion, parental status, education, physical and mental abilities, and/or sexual orientation.

Material topics

Own workforce

• Diversity

• Gender equality and equal pay for equal work

Targets

• 50/50 split men/women per employee category

• Increasing the proportion of employees in the <25 and 55+ age groups

Actions 2023

• Signing of the SER’s Diversity Business Charter

• Development of an action plan for the diversity business charter

• DE&I workshops for all new employees

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Practice workshop

Risks

• Not enough progress to be reported as to the Diversity Business Charter

KPIs

Men/women

# employees <25 and 55+

Gender pay gap

Results 2023

• Gender ratio: 49% male, 51% female

• 38% within management is female

• 100% female board

• 42 employees age <25 and 36 employees age 55+

Actions 2024 and beyond

• Expand suppliers in terms of employees with poor employment prospects (by the coordinator appointed as of January 2024)

• Expanded pay gap research

• Monitor throughput and outflow based on diversity characteristics

• Tighten DE&I policy e.g. in the areas sexual harassment and discrimination

Gender equality and equal pay for equal work

We judge our employees on their competence and do not discriminate on the basis of gender. In line with this, we strive for equal pay for equal work. We have external professional parties assess, for example, transparency, and equal pay for equal work.

Focus areas

Diversity & Inclusion Taskforce

An inclusive culture is paramount in this, providing room for diversity while also fostering a sense of unity. In order to achieve this, we established the 'Diversity & Inclusion Taskforce' in 2021 within the HeadFirst Group to further develop our internal operations and external services in the areas of diversity and inclusion. As of 2023, we added 'equity' to our policy and now use Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

In 2021, we focused on making our organisation more diverse and future-proof in terms of the gender ratio. Since then, we have made good progress. This resulted in 60% women in management positions by 2022. We are proud of this and therefore collaborate with various organisation like BrandedU and the Board of Believers to share our best practices in this area with other companies.

We sponsor and participate in events like 'Men as advocates for women's visibility' at our head office. During this event, together with other organisations, we discussed the valuable role of male colleagues in achieving gender equality in the workplace, we provided simple tips and tricks to prevent subtle and almost invisible forms of discrimination and explained what it means to be an 'ally' in the fight against inequality in the labour market.

We feel this responsibility not only with respect to our own employees, but also with respect to our clients, professionals, and suppliers. We want to counter cognitive bias during the recruitment and selection process and create an inclusive, equal, and safe environment for our professionals. Our recruiters, as well as other staff involved in recruitment and selection, attend the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Practice workshop every six months, which provides them with practical tools for an inclusive recruitment and selection process and information on diversity and inclusion developments.

Since the introduction of the Inclusive Recruitment workshop, we have been selecting two more candidates per application compared to before. By doing so, we broaden the job opportunities for a larger group.

Additionally, the DE&I taskforce initiates multiple actions year-round.

• They monitor the inclusive working environment by conducting inclusion surveys. Twice a year, we ask our employees and professionals about various aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• They set targets.

• As an organisation, we have signed the SER’s Diversity in Business Charter, thereby explicitly declaring our support for diversity in many dimensions (e.g., ethnic-cultural background, age, and gender). We are obliged to report every year on internal employee satisfaction in terms of inclusive corporate culture and internal diversity figures.

Gender pay gap

During the last few years, we reported good results concerning the gender pay gap. One of the reasons is our policy in general where we recruit as unbiased as possible and appreciate everyone's competencies regardless of their gender.

To achieve even better results, we are currently working with consulting firm Mercer to examine the entire job and pay scale structure and see where we are in terms of benchmark. In which, we emphasise that the gender pay gap can only be assessed by job role and not as an hourly average wage difference between men and women.

Governance & ethics

We have a clear governance structure in which the organisational chart, business strategy, and its translation into objectives, goals, strategies, and measures (OGSMs) for each department are the starting point. Based on the KPIs set for each department, OGSM-platform Cascade monitors whether the organisation is on track to achieve its business objectives. This governance model also contains policies on business continuity, privacy, quality and information security. Information security is also reflected in one of our material topics in this axe: data protection, privacy and cybersecurity. The other material topic is political engagement.

Acting ethically and with integrity are the foundation of our sustainable strategy. The basis for our policy is found in our code of conduct and in a number of protocols. We consider it important that our employees act ethically and with integrity. We put a lot of effort into developing an overall awareness when it comes to ethical conduct and integrity.

In a broader sense, we feel that responsible business conduct should also be reflected in corporate citizenship. To this end, we have launched the HeadFirst Group Foundation.

B-Corporation

As an HR Tech organisation, we are a frontrunner in our industry, and this means we have the ambition to be a frontrunner in ESG as well. To show that we balance our profit with purpose, we decided to start the process of becoming a B-Corp.

A B-Corp or benefit corporation is about being a company that has high standards on social and environmental performance and that considers people and the planet in the decisions we make.

This ambition of wanting to become a B-Corp aligns perfectly with our purpose: the next world of work. In the next world of work, sustainability and caring for people and the planet are increasingly important. We live in a world where success will not only be measured by your profit, but by the impact you have on people and the planet. For us, this is a way to take the lead, challenge ourselves and elevate our ESG strategy to a higher level.

Within this axe, our most material topics are political engagement and data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity.

"We decided to start the process of becoming a B-Corp."

Political engagement

We strive for well-balanced labour legislation, allowing everyone to participate in the labour process on the basis of equality. To achieve this, we participate in various consultative bodies and lobby government bodies.

Data protection, privacy and cybersecurity

We respect the privacy, and ensure the security of data of employees, clients, partners, and professionals. For example, by obtaining and processing data in a legal and fair manner and paying close attention to new technologies, security risks, and liabilities, as well as developments in cybersecurity. We protect all data against malicious attacks and improper use.

Material topics

• Political engagement

• Data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity

KPI

# data breaches Targets

• Knowledge sessions with parties involved in the labour market and related legislation

• Publication of position papers

• Informative webinars with customers and professionals

• Zero data breaches

Actions 2023

• Individual meetings with stakeholders concerning labour market issues

• Several position papers

• Knowledge sessions with politicians

• Publication of two reports together with partners in the labour market

• Review and tightening of data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity policies

Risks

• Loss of trust caused by data breaches and security incidents

Results 2023

• 4 minor data breaches

Actions 2024 and beyond

• Knowledge sessions on political developments

• Reports exclusively for customers summarising developments

• Webinars for customers, independent professionals, and suppliers

Publication of two substantive reports in cooperation with our partners

Political engagement

There are plenty of developments in the field of labour legislation. A key topic within this legislation is the position of the self-employed/independent professional. HeadFirst Group has dealt with this intensively over the past year.

We held many talks with members of parliament, policy officers at ministries, chairs of industry associations, and interest groups on legislation and policy proposals related to the labour market and the self-employed issue. We also published two substantive reports in cooperation with our partners. One report entitled 'grip on the self-employed dossier' in cooperation with ZiPconomy and ONL voor Ondernemers. We also published another report in cooperation with SEO Economic Research on the social and economic value of self-employed professionals for the Dutch economy and society. The second report received a lot of attention in the national media (including the Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad and De Telegraaf).

In addition, we also prepared position papers ahead of important debates in the House of Representatives. We then send these position papers to MPs so that they can take our views into account in the political debate.

We also organised webinars for customers, suppliers, and independent professionals to translate relevant politicalsocial developments into their business and daily activities. In this way, we play an important role in ensuring that our partners are well-informed.

Data protection, privacy, and cyber security

We are committed to the protection of the personal data of our employees, customers, and suppliers. Data minimisation can also contribute to this. Should something go wrong, the data set is very limited. For example, if someone just registers in Select, we do not need all the data. More data is only needed when the assignment actually materialises and only then do we ask for it. Another priority is to further increase and embed GDPR awareness within the organisation through training.

The aim is to minimise security and/or privacy-related incidents. For each incident, an RCA (root cause analysis) is prepared with recommendations to prevent recurrence in the future, thus keeping the number of incidents as low as possible. Last year, we experienced a small number of minor cyber incidents and data breaches, which were dealt with immediately. These incidents did not result in any business disruptions.

In 2023, all policies were reviewed and tightened to be even more future-proof.

Donation of €70,000 to the organisation TechMeUp

Focus areas Foundation

We launched the HeadFirst Group Foundation in 2023. The HeadFirst Group Foundation channels all corporate grants, donations, and voluntary work. The Foundation framework helps us coordinate and enhance our efforts not only to align our support with what we stand for as a company, but also to support employees in discovering how they can get involved and help. Every employee receives a number of volunteering days annually which they can use for ‘sustainable’ activities. Initiatives are always in line with our ESG Policy.

TechMeUp

We donated €70,000 to the organisation TechMeUp in 2023.

We believe training should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their situation. However, not everyone has the (financial) means to retrain or upskill. TechMeUp is a non-profit tech fund that invests in providing opportunities

for these people. HeadFirst Group works with TechMeUp to offer underprivileged students an interest-free loan to retrain as IT professionals. Specifically for HeadFirst Group, this means that we sponsor ten students during their retraining process. In addition, the collaboration means that we help students find a job by, for example: 1) using our network for placements; 2) setting up campaigns to familiarise underprivileged students with our clients; and 3) making our platform available to the students to easily get acquainted with a variety of clients.

JINC

Together with JINC, we contribute to giving young people (age 8-16) with a socio-economic disadvantage a good start in the labour market. Through our cooperation, we introduce young people to working life and get them excited about working within the IT or HR sector. We organised our first 'Boss of Tomorrow' project in June 2023, in which two young people took over the role of CEO for one day. In November 2023, HeadFirst Group also participated in ‘bliksemstages’ (short internships) and provided job interview training. By doing so, we broaden young people's horizons, help them make a good choice for further education, and prepare them for job applications.

Meer bomen nu! (More Trees Now!)

The HeadFirst Group Foundation recently made a donation to Meer bomen nu! (More Trees Now!) This organisation collects surplus or unwanted young shrubs and trees in natural and green areas. They then distribute them to, for

example, farmers and food forests, or citizens who want to green their own environment faster. Besides the donation, we also physically contributed by actually helping to plant the trees in the Hoofddorp Area.

Certifications 27001/9001/14001 maintained

Certification

We continuously invest in cybersecurity-related processes and systems. With investments in compliance resources, business processes, and technology, HeadFirst Group complies with relevant statutory GDPR principles. The 27001, 9001 and 14001 management systems ensure that we continuously work on quality, information security, and environmental objectives.

CSRD

The HeadFirst Group will have to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as of the financial year 2025. The CSRD is detailed in reporting standards: the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Companies are then required to align their sustainability reporting with the ESRS.

We are in the process of mapping the disclosure requirements of ESRS and identifying where the gaps are in relation to our current data. In our 2024 annual report (to be published in 2025), we will further structure our reporting framework according to ESRS to be compliant by 2025.

From raw data to customer insights: Ton Sluiter and Peter Ellen lead the way at HeadFirst Group

In the dynamic environment of HeadFirst Group, Ton Sluiter, Manager Data, and Peter Ellen, Journey Manager in team Customer Experience (CX), are at the forefront of an evolution towards a future driven by data and customer experience. Their shared passion for the power of data and customer experience serves as the engine behind their continuous pursuit of improvement and innovation.

"We share our passion for the power of data and customer experiences."

TON SLUITER

Valuable insights

Ton enthusiastically begins by explaining the role of the data team: "We delve into all incoming data and convert it into valuable insights. Whether it's generating reports for our clients and partners, or internal information for management, our goal is to optimise business operations, both internally and externally."

Peter adds: "My task is to collect and analyse feedback from clients. Based on that analysis, I can identify the greatest impact on how people perceive our company, and work on improvement." Although Peter hasn't been at HeadFirst Group for long, he shares some successes: "I'm especially proud of how quickly we've established a foundation and structure to measure what clients think of us. This is essential because it forms the basis for improving customer experience for the future."

Foundation for the future

Ton is optimistic about the future of data-driven work but acknowledges that there is still room for growth: "We are currently in the phase of data analysis and moving towards predictive analyses and models that assist in future business decision-making. We aim to generate more insights and truly become data-driven in all our processes."

Peter recognizes this growth, as he joined at a time when there was no CX team. "In the beginning, the entire CX Journey Management was an unwritten page: nothing was set in stone. It was a period of pioneering and discovering what I could add.

That made it immediately interesting for me, the feeling of a blank canvas. As time progressed, a clearer picture emerged of what I could contribute. CX has now been rolled out for all the brands of HeadFirst Group."

Innovation & growth

When asked what makes his work so exciting, Ton responds enthusiastically. "Working with data is actually similar to refining: raw data comes in, is processed, and eventually results in valuable insights. We not only collect data for the original purpose but also discover unexpected applications. We call this serendipity. I get energised when we can bring clients or ourselves a step further with it!"

Peter shares Ton's enthusiasm: "It's great to see how quickly we're growing but still have the ability to innovate rapidly. I greatly appreciate that drive. Our joint dedication to unlocking the potential of data and improving customer experience reflects the energy of HeadFirst Group."

PETER ELLEN

"It's great to see how fast we're growing but still have the ability to innovate rapidly."

2023 results

HeadFirst Group is proud to present its gross invoice value of €2,427 billion (2022: €1,960 billion), which reflects the growth of our business both from new customers as well as increased volumes with existing customers. We would not have been able to achieve this great result without our amazing and passionate employees, loyal clients, committed partners, suppliers, and mission-critical professionals.

We saw strong growth in the demand for our solutions throughout the year. We realised double-digit growth rates for our gross profit in 2023.

All our business lines contributed to the acceleration of our gross profit growth in 2023, with a very strong performance of our IM, MSP and P&P service offerings.

The resilience of our business model with our portfolio mix and our strong presence in the niche of highly skilled professionals, including many IT professionals, led to a growth acceleration over previous years and in 2023. Revenue growth amounted to 1.4 billion (2022: 1.0 billion), following growth in our MSP proposition, volume growth in our Intermediary proposition and growth due to the acquisition of StarApple, Sterksen and ProUnity. Gross profit accelerated to 68 million in 2023.

We managed to realise a strong underlying EBITDA performance, with an EBITDA of 30 million.

We continued to invest in our organisation to further improve our service levels for customers. In addition, we continued to optimise our processes and implemented innovative solutions such as Robotic Process Automation, enabling more efficient ways of working and anticipating a further growth in performance in 2024, which will be necessary to fully focus on our personal touch to enhance customer and employee satisfaction.

We are proud of our solid financial position with a strong equity of €145 million and a solvency of 23%. This qualifies as solid for our type of business, which has a large amount of current assets and liabilities going through the books.

We continued to retain business by renewals and we won additional tenders in 2023, demonstrating our clients’ appreciation of our services and providing us with a solid outlook at the start of 2024.

People & culture

HeadFirst Group: A Great Place to Work

As an employer, HeadFirst Group has undergone a rapid development in recent years. Guided by our three core values: customer first, learn every day, and connecting people. Involvement, fun and ownership are central to our organisation.

We encourage our employees to be enterprising through personal development and by giving them responsibility. We combine our focus on customer experience with the Lean philosophy, which is based on the principle that improvement initiatives come from the entire organisation instead of just from the top of the organisation, we have put our employees at the wheel of continuous improvement.

To encourage our staff to continue to learn and develop, we have our own HeadFirst Group Academy. The Academy is an online learning environment, where employees collectively attended 483 training courses in 2023. In addition, in-class training was carried out in large numbers (305 training sessions). HeadFirst Group invested €265,000 in the personal development of its employees in 2023.

The mental health of our employees is also essential to us. That is why we joined forces with OpenUp, an organisation whose mission is to make mental well-being accessible to everyone. OpenUp offers tools that make people more resilient and help people in their personal development, such as a health check-in, one-on-one consultations with certified psychologists, master classes and group sessions, mindfulness consultations, and online programmes, articles, and manuals.

Since we moved into our new head office in Hoofddorp in early 2022, we have had our own HeadFirst Group Theatre at our disposal. We use this for our tailor-made escape room, company parties, knowledge events and inspiration sessions. For these inspiration sessions, we partnered with Leqture, who planned several top speakers for us on the topics of cognitive flexibility, storytelling, and high performance.

All this has been greatly appreciated: we were certified as a Great Place to Work (GPtW) for the second time in 2023. This is a tremendous recognition of who we want to be as an employer. In the GPtW survey, our employees rated us highly on the topics of fair treatment, diversity & inclusion, responsibility and independence within the job, and the feeling that they can be themselves at work.

In 2024, we expect our employee base to develop in line with the growth of our business volumes.

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

€265,000

Company investment in personal development 2022: €250,000 2021: €120,000

483

Online training courses attended by our employees

2022: 347

2021: 367

305

In-class training courses attended by our employees 2022: 302 2021: 74

5,884

Online & in-class training hours invested by our employees

"We encourage our employees to be enterprising through personal development and by giving them responsibility."

GENERAL

• Situated in a premium location at Office Park 20|20 in Hoofddorp (1,000 metres from the A4 motorway and 400 metres from the Hoofddorp railway station)

• 3,700 m2 surface area

• 1,500 m2 theatre, bar, restaurant, and gym (ground floor + 1st floor)

• 2,200 m2 office space (2nd to 4th floors)

• 132 (flex) workstations with adjustable desks

FACILITIES

• Theatre with space for five hundred (standing) guests

• Bar for connecting and celebrating

• Restaurant (including barista)

• 15 Technogym machines in fitness area

• 624 hours of sports instructor guidance per year (for workouts and boot camps)

• 17 meeting rooms with modern facilities for hybrid conferencing

• 3 coffee corners

SUSTAINABILITY

• Cradle-to-cradle company building with energy label A and BREEAM-NL new building ‘Very good’ sustainability certificate

• Rainwater harvesting with smart blue-green roofs (e.g., used to flush toilets)

• Recycling water with greywater system

• Green electricity from Greenchoice

• CO2-neutral floor covering from Interface

• Caterer Leo Love Good Food: dedicated to reducing the environmental impact by choosing sustainable products as much as possible

• Cleaning of premises with cold water and ecological cleaning agents

Our head office is located in Hoofddorp, near Amsterdam. It is an inspiring place, where connecting people is key. The office does justice to our leading position as an HR tech solutions provider and it helps us underline our sustainability ambitions.

Risk management

Approach to risk management

Our approach to risk (and opportunity) management aims to minimise the number of risks and their potential impact, while maximising opportunities. As part of our long-term value creation, this risk (and opportunity) management is embedded in our strategy and essential for achieving our goals. HeadFirst Group periodically reviews and reassess its risk profile to manage important risks, creating a healthy balance between risks and potential opportunities. HeadFirst Group identifies four risk categories: strategic, operational, financial, and compliance and also considers other elements such as prevention of fraud. What is considered a healthy balance differs for each risk category.

Risk profile

The next paragraphs comprise a categorised overview of the risks that we believe are currently the most relevant considering our strategy. This risk overview is not exhaustive. There may be risks not yet known to HeadFirst Group or risks that are currently not deemed to be material, but which could later turn out to have a material adverse effect on HeadFirst Group’s business, operating results, and/or financial situation. The sequence of the risks does not reflect an order of importance, vulnerability, or materiality.

Strategic risks

Sensitivity to cyclical movements

"Risk arises when you don't know what you're doing. We know what we're doing, because preventing and managing risk is our business."

HeadFirst Group operates in a dynamic, highly competitive industry. Macroeconomic volatility has an almost immediate impact on the market in which we operate. By having a solid core, a flexible shell, and a diverse portfolio of services, HeadFirst Group is able to constantly adapt to an ever-changing environment. Cyclical movements also provide an opportunity, as our clients will require their workforce to be flexible. This will result in ongoing demand for our services.

Reputation

HeadFirst Group provides a flexible shell to both customers and suppliers. In providing our services, trust and stability are of vital importance. Poor service or, even worse, a data breach could have a material impact on HeadFirst Group’s reputation, business, and financial position. HeadFirst Group protects its strong reputation by ensuring all employees adhere to our core values and business principles, and comply with all internal policies. Periodic

customer and supplier surveys help us to monitor the strength of our brand and improve poor performance quickly. Timely action is taken to investigate and address any negative trends.

As a risk management measure and to demonstrate our integrity and solid trustworthy policies and procedures, we have obtained several renowned certifications. HeadFirst Group’s certifications include the standards outlined below.

NEN 4400-1

NEN 4400-1 is the certification of the Labour Standards Foundation for organisations that act as an intermediary for temporary personnel. This quality mark imposes requirements on the payment of taxes and social security contributions. The NEN 4400-1 quality mark also provides assurance that an organisation only provides personnel who are allowed to work in the Netherlands.

ISO 9001

ISO 9001 is the international standard for quality management. This quality mark assesses whether we are able to meet the requirements that our clients impose, including in relation to laws and regulations. The requirements also provide a basis for our quality management system.

ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is a standard for environmental management. To fulfil our ambitions in terms of environmental performance in a targeted and effective way, HeadFirst Group works with a multi-site environmental management system that

complies with the international ISO 14001:2015 standard. The ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 standards have an identical set-up thanks to a High Level Structure (HLS).

ISO 27001

ISO 27001 is a standard for information security. HeadFirst Group operates in a data-driven world and, as an intermediary, HeadFirst Group needs to ensure that its clients, professionals, and suppliers can entrust HeadFirst Group with their data in good faith. In addition, the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of this data are becoming increasingly important. To demonstrate HeadFirst Group professionalism in this regard, HeadFirst Group believes it is important to be certified under ISO 27001.

SNA Quality mark & Bovib Quality mark

Several entities within the organisation carry the SNA quality mark. It shows that we comply with laws and regulations concerning personnel, wages, and financial administration. This is assessed every two years in an external inspection by an independent inspection body. We also have the Bovib Quality Mark and are a member of the Bovib, the trade association for intermediaries and brokers in the Netherlands. The Bovib quality mark evidences that we guarantee quality, are financially sound and comply with laws and regulations when deploying or activating a hiring chain. This is tested annually in an external inspection by an independent inspection body.

Changing laws and regulations

One of the major strategic risks is politically and socially oriented. Changes in the political, legislative, and/or regulatory framework governing the activities of HeadFirst Group could have a material impact on HeadFirst Group’s business, the markets in which we operate, and our financial position.

Our highly skilled in-house experts, who work closely with a range of reputable external experts, monitor the process of (possible) changes in legislation, anticipate the effects of potential changes, provide training to employees, clients, suppliers, and independent professionals and ensure proper processes and controls are embedded in our organisation. Furthermore, we anticipate all potential outcomes by carrying a broad service portfolio.

Changes in legislation also provide opportunities. New legislation might contribute to an administrative burden and increased risk for our clients, which requires extensive knowledge to remain compliant and efficient. We share our knowledge of (possible) new legislation (especially on employment laws, data, and privacy protection regulation) with our clients, strengthening our relationship with them. Furthermore, the sheer multitude of regulations has prompted organisations to seek outside assistance in this area. This trend is likely to continue in the coming years. HeadFirst Group meets this need through its contracting service.

Operational risks

Information security

HeadFirst Group deals with confidential information of both customers and suppliers. In providing our services, trust and stability are of vital importance. A data breach could have a material impact on HeadFirst Group’s reputation, business, financial position, and the reputation of our customers. HeadFirst Group is continuously strengthening its IT controls and compliance by improving IT security and IT controls. Therefore, our employees are screened before hiring, and awareness activities are rolled out to increase employee awareness of IT security risks. Those parts of the IT environment, including software, that are outsourced are only outsourced to trustworthy parties that are ISO 27001 accredited. HeadFirst Group hires independent qualified agencies for periodic audits of our policies and procedures based on the latest rules and regulations, to ensure compliance. This has resulted in, for example, our accreditation for quality control (ISO 9001). The ISO 9001 certificate enables us to demonstrate our trustworthiness, thus strengthening our brand image of a reliable and stable party.

Talent attraction and retention

People are our most important asset. The success of HeadFirst Group’s business depends not only on attracting and developing the best talent, but also on retaining our highly skilled employees. We aim to achieve this by creating a positive and open working atmosphere, where employees are encouraged to pitch initiatives and where development is stimulated. Regular employee surveys

help HeadFirst Group to monitor the engagement of its employees and investigate employees’ needs in a structured manner. Timely action is taken by the HR department to investigate and address any negative trends.

Just like our own organisation, our clients are seeking to attract and retain talent. The trend set out in the market developments section of an ongoing shortage of knowledge professionals means that organisations have a constant need for help in recruiting external personnel. HeadFirst Group can offer a solution to this problem through its triple sourcing model of (1) an open market approach, (2) close ties with a closed community, and (3) global sourcing.

Contract liability

Requirements from clients may result in unique contract clauses. Accepting inappropriately high contractual liabilities could result in a client making a claim that would materially affect the results of HeadFirst Group. We always work with standard contracts, unless a customer requirement calls for a unique contract clause that is not unduly onerous and will not lead to additional liability for HeadFirst Group. HeadFirst Group believes that the risks and liabilities associated with the service performed should lie with the party that can exert influence on that particular element of the service. If HeadFirst Group cannot exert any influence on a specific element, the liability remains with the client or is transferred to the supplier if it is under their influence. To ensure proper service delivery, HeadFirst Group focuses

on further improvement of its contract delivery model and contract management. Our expertise in contract management improves our quality and the added value we deliver to our clients.

Financial risks

We maintain a prudent financing strategy. Only a minimum risk is accepted in relation to errors in our reporting.

Credit risk

HeadFirst Group’s exposure to trade receivables is managed through continuous credit risk assessments of each individual customer. For the remainder of the credit risk, we have taken out bad debt insurance. Further details on credit risk and other financial instruments are provided in the notes to the financial statements.

Interest rate risk

In 2020, we entered into a factoring agreement with Coface. In 2022, this agreement was extended until 2027. Part of the fee of Coface is calculated by the timing difference in receipt of the funds and a variable interest rate based on 3-month EURIBOR. HeadFirst Group policy prescribes that derivative financial instruments should only be considered if current and future interest rate risks are not within the management's acceptable risks levels. Therefore, we bought a derivative (interest rate cap with a term of 3 years) in 2022 to mitigate the interest rate risk.

Hedge accounting is being applied.

Cash flow risk

Cash flow analyses are performed by HeadFirst Group as a whole. HeadFirst Group monitors the liquidity requirement in order to hold sufficient liquidity for operational activities or to attract liquidity in time through financing without exceeding set limits (externally). HeadFirst Group conducts adequate liquidity risk management by maintaining sufficient cash and by ensuring sufficient availability of financing by means of committed credit facilities, the pledging of trade receivables, and the ability to close market positions. Management controls the rolling forecast of the organisation’s liquidity position on the basis of expected cash flows. In general, this takes place at a central level, within the frameworks and limits set by management. When setting limits, we take into account the liquidity of the market in which the company concerned is active. Furthermore, HeadFirst Group’s liquidity management includes forecasting of cash flows and the maintenance of related sufficient liquidity. Importantly, this includes monitoring the development of the debtor position, the amount of the receivables purchase agreement, and credit management.

Compliance risks

Compliance is at the core of the services provided by HeadFirst Group. HeadFirst Group applies a zero-tolerance policy to all compliance risks. Our business is subject to increasingly complex compliance requirements (see also the strategic risks section). Non-compliance could have a material adverse impact on HeadFirst Group’s reputation, business, and financial position. HeadFirst Group therefore

invests in the continuous development of its highly skilled and educated in-house specialists, who share their knowledge within the group and embed all new legislation in the core of our business. HeadFirst Group has close relationships with specialised reputable companies. These companies provide HeadFirst Group with professional advice on all topics relevant for HeadFirst Group.

We are responsible for the integrity and protection of all personal data that we store within business processes and IT systems. We continuously invest in cybersecurity-related processes and systems. With investments in compliance resources, business processes, and technology, the group complies with relevant statutory GDPR principles. In doing so, the 27001, 9001, and 14001 management systems ensure that we continuously work on quality, information security, and environmental objectives.

"Compliance is at the core of the services provided by HeadFirst Group. HeadFirst Group applies a zerotolerance policy to all compliance risks."

Changes in legislation also provide opportunities. New legislation contributes to an administrative burden and risk for our clients, which requires extensive knowledge to remain compliant and efficient. We can share our knowledge of new legislation (especially with regard to employment law, data, and privacy protection regulation) with our clients, strengthening our relationship with them. New regulations require an ongoing critical review of existing training, policies, and procedures to remain compliant.

Leadership

HeadFirst Group is managed by the Board of Directors, consisting of Marion van Happen and Marjolein Slappendel. They form a full board with Chairman of the Board Han Kolff and the non-executive members.

About Marion van Happen

Marion was appointed CEO of HeadFirst Group in February 2022. She has over twenty years’ experience in HR services, recruitment, and staffing in various commercial and senior management positions in the Netherlands and abroad. Before joining HeadFirst Group, Marion was Chief Operating Officer at RGF Staffing the Netherlands (formerly USG People) and Managing Director of Unique. In the role of CEO, she directs the strategic, operational, and commercial activities of the organisation.

About Marjolein Slappendel

Marjolein is a highly experienced and all-round CFO, with an impressive track record at companies including Merrill Lynch, ING, Action, and work platform Temper. Since June 2023, Marjolein has filled the role of CFO of HeadFirst Group, putting her in charge of the group’s financial activities. Her portfolio comprises business operations, finance operations, accounting, treasury, control, quality, and legal affairs.

Business lines with managing directors

MSP services international

Strategic sales international

Koen van Rijn Renger Lammers Florine Onderwijzer Mattijs Wassenburg

Intermediary services & talent sourcing

Growth & strategy services

Professionals & partners services

Product & data services

Supporting staff

Operational excellence

Operations & implementation

Financial & business control

Finance administration & invoicing

Legal, quality & security

Strategic office and M&A

Strategy support

Executive office

Engineering, product, data & infra

Human resources

Marketing, communication & CX

Outlook for 2024

We dare to lead. In 2024, we will take the lead towards the next world of work. The world we believe in is increasingly tech-enabled, without bias and regardless of contract type. To get there, we have used the OGSM (Objective, Goals, Strategies and Measures) methodology to translate our multi-year strategy into a one-page annual plan for 2024.

recruitment process for our vacancies and our existing employees, we make improvements in the recruitment process, the onboarding process, around our learning facilities, in our terms of employment, at our locations, etc. With the aim of becoming an even better employer for our people. Specifically, we have set ourselves the goal of achieving an 8+ rating at the next a Great Place to Work measurement at the end of 2024.

Building blocks

We have defined seven strategic topics that will receive the most attention in the coming year:

1. Sourcing exchange strategy

2. Professionals & Partners services and strategic supplier management

3. Roadmap development Striive platform

4. International roll-out ProUnity VMS

5. Strategic sales to private clients

6. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

7. Refresh the branding of HeadFirst Group, HeadFirst (intermediary services brand) and Striive

Tech enables touch

We believe that through the smart use of automation and AI, the end-to-end process of sourcing, matching, contracting, and paying professionals can be fully digitalised, so that we can add personal touches at the moments where they really add value for customers. The

primary driver of this added value is our platform brand Striive and our other tech products ProUnity and OpenTalent.

HeadFirst Group has made a digital transformation from traditional labour market service provider to HR tech solution provider with a tech platform and various forms of labour market services with a human touch. We will continue on this path unabated in 2024.

Continuous improvement

In 2023, we established the basis for continuous feedback loops from our different types of customers: clients, independent professionals, and partners. The common thread from this feedback serves as input for our improvement roadmap for our processes, technology, and how our colleagues work around our core processes: matching, contracting, and finance. We continue to learn every day!

We do the same with our candidate and employee experience. Based on feedback from candidates in the

As we outlined in the trends section, we are going to have many more years of scarcity in the labour market, among others because of the strucurally growing demand for STEM professionals and under the pressure of an ageing population. Talent scarcity will force organisations to be as creative as possible. This also applies to us. With all the different solutions to labour market issues available in our group, we will be able to show such creativity. As you can see on page 12, our solutions are most easily explained on the axes of tech and (human) touch, indicating which services are strongly tech-driven and which are strongly human-driven. By combining these services as building blocks, we can offer a solution for every client’s demand.

Sustainability policy

As a leading HR-tech solution provider and growing platform, HeadFirst Group takes its role in the labour market and society very seriously. To make our impact as concrete as possible, we have organised our ESG impact along these four axes: (1) sustainability, (2) decent work & lifelong learning, (3) diversity & inclusion, and (4) governance & ethics. In each of these areas, we are

developing new initiatives and making choices about how we – with our employees, clients, suppliers, and independent professionals – will contribute to a more beautiful world. To bundle these initiatives, we will present the HeadFirst Group Foundation in 2024, in which budget has been made available to develop concrete initiatives that fall under the four aforementioned axes and encourage colleagues to be socially and sustainably active. And we believe that becoming an B-Corp certified company complements our ESG ambitions.

Dutch labour market legislation challenges

The amount of legislation in the Netherlands pertaining to the labour market is large and more and more is coming. In 2024, the Equal Opportunities in Recruitment Act will come into force. We are now implementing the last necessary actions to comply with this act. We are also preparing for a mandatory certification scheme for parties providing labour (WTTA). And the hottest issue over the past years remains: the Assessment of Employment Relationships (Deregulation) Act (Wet deregulering beoordeling arbeidsrelaties, DBA). Introduced in 2016, it was originally intended to tackle pseudo self-employment among freelancers. However, it turned out to be a drag law with major negative consequences for highly skilled professionals. The current Minister of Social Affairs and Employment wants to put an end to the ambiguity, opting for an approach using the criterion of ‘embedded in the client’s organisation’, which is based on the premise that a hired professional should not do the same work as an employee in permanent employment. The implementation

(and misinterpretation) of that criterion could have major consequences for the flexible labour market. In line with our public affairs agenda, we continue to campaign for a good solution that combats pseudo selfemployment at the lower end of the labour market, while allowing conscious self-employed workers at the higher end of the market to conduct their business without restrictions.

Next steps towards the leading HR tech solution provider We described how our strategy is made up of five bold steps towards becoming the leading HR tech solutions provider in 2027 in Europe. In order to implement this strategy, we used the OGSM methodology to identify the following key points for 2024 for the five steps:

1. Clear tech roadmap: expanding ProUnity VMS, exploiting opportunities with HubSpot, implementing new customer contact software, continuous improvement on Striive

2. Data-driven organisation: bring talent intelligence to the market, implement next-level matching technology based on big data and AI, e-commerce funnel improvement based on our end-to-end measurements and insights

3. Next-level services: monetise platform supply, improve client, partner, and professionals journeys based on all our customer insights, boost the Professionals services for professionals who do not work through one of our brands, create most valuable vetted talent pools, and expand our role as a substantive advisory partner for clients

4. Leading platform in the Benelux: bring synergy with recruitment/sourcing hub, platform connectivity, replacement, and implement group-wide supplier management

5. Expansion into European markets: target strategic clients, achieve organic growth through current clients with international potential combined with strategic targeted acquisition

Financial objectives 2024

HeadFirst Group is an ambitious company with great potential. The outlook for 2024 is positive, but also depends on our ability to realise our growth ambitions. We have set ambitious targets for 2024, as we expect to increase our business results in terms of revenue, gross profit and EBITDA.

We continue to invest in our digital strategy to develop our organisation from an HR service provider to a platform company. In addition, we expect to incur costs related to the further optimisation of our internal organisation, as well as costs related to our M&A strategy.

About this report

Reporting standards

With this report, we provide insight into the activities, sustainability strategy and financial performance of HFBG Holding B.V. The report covers the calendar year 2023 and was published on •• April 2024. For the non-financial information in the section Sustainability Policy, we used the GRI Standard 2021 as our starting point and we initiated disclosure requirements as mentioned in the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). As a group, we have committed ourselves to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) and we have set a science-based ‘near term target’ in 2022 to contribute to limiting global warming to well below 2oC.

Scope of the report

This report covers the HeadFirst Group, including all our consolidated entities. Our financial and non-financial results are presented in this report and relate to all consolidated entities for the period of 1 January up to and including 31 December 2023, unless stated otherwise.

Materiality analysis

In our 2023 report, we took a further step towards CSRD compliance. To this end, we conducted a new materiality analysis using the material topics and sub-topics from the ESRS topical standard as a guideline. Our focus was on the material impact of the HeadFirst Group (inside-out). At the same time, we looked at the financial impact (outside-in) as part of the double materiality analysis required by CSRD. This has led to a better understanding of the subject

matter and how we should focus our processes more specifically on it. One of the key actions for 2024 is to further strengthen the foundation in order to be able to name and substantiate the specific issues in this report.

To determine the material topics, we have started by identifying a broad universe of potential material topics: industry, peers, mandatory regulatory requirements (mainly the ESRS topical standard), online news and media, the company, etc. Thus minimising the risk of overlooking any emerging topics. In an initial round of consultations, we discussed the longlist with nine internal stakeholders. As a result, we removed topics with the lowest score. This resulted in a longlist of 22 topics ready for prioritising.

This longlist was presented to the members of the ‘core team’. We discussed the main categories environmental, social, and governance. By awarding points per topic, we ended up with a shortlist of 15 material topics. This list was approved by the Board.

These topics were presented to a number of internal stakeholders and representative external stakeholders. Based on the total scores per topic, we arrived at nine most material topics, as shown in the overview below. The current material topics indicate more specifically where we can make an impact. By making a distinction between own workforce, professionals in the chain, and customers under Social, we can also report better on our impact in the value chain in future reports. These topics were also approved by one of the Board members.

The topics are:

1. Climate change/Climate adaptation/Energy

2. Secure employment (own workforce)

3. Training and skills development (own workforce)

4. Equal employment conditions (professionals in the chain)

5. Full support on compliance issues (customers)

6. Diversity (own workforce)

7. Gender equality and equal pay for equal work (own workforce)

8. Political engagement

9. Data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity

Value creation

A value creation model is presented showing input capitals, the way HeadFirst Group adds value with its business model, resulting in the output and outcome per material topic, which is the value we create for our people, the environment, and society. Whereby we focus on mitigating our current negative impacts and increasing our positive impacts.

Assurance

The financial statements are covered by our auditor’s opinion.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Consolidated pro forma financial statements

General information

In order to provide a clearer view of the annual results of the Group, we have prepared a pro forma set of the HFBG 2023 and 2022 consolidated results as if StarApple and ProUnity were acquired on 1 January 2023 instead of 1 September 2023.

Balance sheet

Registered offices and auditor

Registered office of the company

Taurusavenue 18, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands

Visiting addresses

HeadFirst Group

Taurusavenue 18

2132 LS Hoofddorp

www.headfirst.group

E. info@headfirst.nl

T. +31 (0) 23-5685630

Staffing Management Services

Oostmaaslaan 71

3063 AN Rotterdam

www.staffingms.com

E. info@staffingms.com

T. +31 (0) 10-7600900

ProUnity

Vandendriesschelaan 18 B04

1150 Bruxelles - Belgium

www.pro-unity.com

E. info@pro-unity.com

T. +32 (0) 231008715

Auditor

Flynth Audit B.V.

Pettelaarpark 86

5216 PP Den Bosch

Between Staffing Group

Taurusavenue 18

2132 LS Hoofddorp

www.between.com

E. info@between.com

T. +31 (0) 20-5840853

Sterksen

Haagweg 389

4813 XC Breda

www.sterksen.com

E. info@sterksen.com

T. +31 (0) 88 0442000

Source Belgium

Vandendriesschelaan 18 B04

1150 Bruxelles - Belgium

www.source.eu

E. info@be.source.eu

T. +32 (0) 27217545

HeadFirst Poland

ul. Towarowa 28

00-839 Warsaw - Polen

E. info@headfirst.nl

T. +31 (0) 23-5685630

StarApple

Stationsplein 4

2275 AZ Voorburg

www.starapple.nl

E. info@starapple.nl

T. +31 (0)88 3218123

Source Luxembourg

1, Côte d’Eich

L-1450 Luxembourg - Luxembourg

www.source.eu

E. info@lu.source.eu

T. +35 (0) 22848781088