Kevin Barrow

Kevin advises Workforce Solutions companies on their commercial and corporate/M&A strategies, and major national and international projects. He and his team are the go-to regulatory, tax and contract experts in the UK and Europe for staffing companies, online platforms, consultancies, and other employment intermediaries, helping with their expansion plans and the digital transformation of the Workforce Solutions industry.

Kevin advises on national and international flexible workforce (MSP, RPO, PEO, EOR and VMS) projects, regulation of digital recruitment and online exchanges, and worker misclassification and ‘co-employment’ class actions. He and his team are helping many Workforce Solutions companies digitally transform with increasing use of platform models and AI to enhance services. He has led moves by traditional staffing companies into consultancy, train then deploy and SOW business models, and has advised over 200 companies on self-employment tax regimes including IR35 and the MSC regime. With an unrivalled depth of knowledge in this market, Kevin acts for many suppliers and users of recruitment and staffing and consultancy services, including many growth companies as well as investors in the sector, and is involved in 5-10 M&A deals and private equity investments each year in the sector, often helping owner-managed companies get ready for sale.

We engaged Osborne Clarke to assist us on this transaction because of their knowledge and expertise in the recruitment sector in the UK and Europe.

Chris Hartman, Global Development Officer, Allegis

Kevin Barrow has been included on Staffing Industry Analysts list of Europe’s 100 most influential leaders in the staffing industry. His peers and others in the staffing and workforce solutions ecosystem say his "excellence, drive and passion stand out as exemplary in the industry". - Staffing Industry Analysts, 2020

Helping you succeed in tomorrow's world

I believe Workforce Solutions companies are key to the future success of major economies. They are part of the landscape for future of work issues and are helping organisations find the right talent with the right skills at the right time for the right price, and helping individuals have fulfilling careers.

The advisory and transactional teams I have helped build at Osborne Clarke are designed to help companies in this sector raise funds to enable expansion and digital transformation and so provide this benefit to society, without being held back by regulation or tax challenges or investor worries about sustainability of profits in the face of new legislation. I want to help make the flexible workforces of tomorrow work for everyone including gig workers.

To this end I have helped the UK government formulate policy in this area to help drive out "cowboy" operators in the industry and ensure a level-playing field for companies trying to do the right thing, and I have worked with many online platforms whose goal has been to help disadvantaged work-seekers find work opportunities.