Amiqus enters public sector with Scottish Government and NHS contracts

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Press release

Edinburgh, 22 December 2020

Award-winning software provider Amiqus has been selected to support Scottish Government pre-employment checks for two years after its successful participation in the Scottish Government’s CivTech accelerator.
Working with the Scottish Government’s People Directorate as part of a pre-commercial pilot facilitated by the CivTech programme, it was proven that by adopting Amiqus technology candidates could be offered a start date within seven days, a process which could otherwise take over five weeks to complete.
As public services come under pressure to recruit vital roles as quickly and safely as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic, Amiqus has also been engaged by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to provide rapid pre-employment vetting to support the onboarding of up to 5000 returning clinicians.

Amiqus, the Leith-headquartered software company that enables organisations to engage new clients or staff remotely, has entered the public sector after securing contracts with the Scottish Government and the NHS Business Services Authority. Founded by Callum Murray in 2015, Amiqus is already used by hundreds of businesses to facilitate tens of thousands of pre-contractual identity and financial status checks every month.

Amiqus began working with the Scottish Government People Directorate through the Scottish Government’s CivTech accelerator with the goal of improving the pre-employment experience for civil service candidates, while significantly reducing the workload for HR teams. During this time Amiqus engineers worked collaboratively with Government teams to deliver a new payment gateway to support the Scottish Government in issuing and managing rapid Disclosure checks.

Amiqus Public Affairs lead Laura Westring said of the collaboration with CivTech, “As a former civil servant it has been great to see how the Scottish Government People Directorate and the CivTech teams worked so openly and constructively with our engineers, researchers, client and product teams. It’s not easy to introduce new software into any civil service, but the fact that we were all working in alignment and in the spirit of the National Performance Framework meant everyone was on the same page right from the start, looking to co-design a solution for maximum value and efficiency.”

After a successful pilot in July 2020, it was proven that the use of the adapted Amiqus technology could reduce the Scottish Government pre-employment process from several weeks, or even months, to just seven days. Amiqus will now help to facilitate pre-employment checks for the Scottish Government People Directorate for two years and, separately, has also entered a contract with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to support the wider NHS by providing rapid pre-employment vetting for up to 5000 returning clinicians.

Amiqus CEO Callum Murray said, “Five years ago, you couldn’t conceivably access legal or financial help, move home, or job, without getting through mountains of paperwork. Amiqus has been building trust and expertise since then and now supports hundreds of organisations and tens of thousands of people every month through our software. We’re excited to be working with the teams at both the Scottish Government and the NHS Business Services Authority and look forward to welcoming many more new clients in the new year.”

Amiqus software provides organisations with the means to manage their onboarding and compliance in a range of sectors remotely. Among hundreds of law firms, the company’s diverse clients also include Umega Lettings, Neilsons Solicitors and Estate Agents and Roseisle Luxury Campervans, which have used Amiqus software to help maintain business continuity during the various phases of lockdown in 2020. In line with its commitment to using business as what Murray describes as “a force for good” in a year in which has seen local authority budgets squeezed and charities lose over 40 per cent of their income, the Amiqus team is also using its technology to enable both ProxyAddress and the Scottish Tech Army to deliver their services.

Note to editor

About Amiqus

The first step to hiring someone new is to check they are who they say they are. In the past this has meant weeks to months of paperwork. Our team is committed to making the harder things in life easier to overcome by building accessible “tech for good” with no hidden fees, no dodgy terms, no data reselling and no underhand reuse.

Amiqus software is trusted by hundreds of organisations across the UK to meet the needs of multiple sectors, from construction to vehicle hire. Checks and workflows can be initiated and undergone remotely and securely from any device; making onboarding easier and faster for all involved.

Headquartered at The Shore district in Leith, Edinburgh, our international team actively advocates flexible remote working, living wage employment and new economy thought leadership. Our values inform every decision, big or small, because that’s not only the right way to do business, but the smartest. We believe in growing our company through a clear set of missions and by putting our people and the public interest first.

Find out more about Amiqus
Read the latest news from the Amiqus team
CEO Callum Murray is available for comment or interview
For questions or queries, contact [email protected]

About CivTech

CivTech aims to help solve problems across the country through tech and innovation, particularly at a time when services are strained due to budgets being under pressure. It is co-funded by the Digital and Economy Directorates. CivTech continues to honour the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring that a large part of its tech spend goes to small, pioneering businesses.