I was unsure about using Ecruit because of the low cost compared to traditional recruitment agencies. In our industry it was about 10x lower cost and so I was sceptical if it was work. I was very pleased with the quality and speed of the process, and it saved us £1000s on recruitment fees without any drop in quality.
Head of Clinical Operations, VCTC
Saved in recruitment costs
Vacancies filled
Average cost per hire
Avg candidates per campaign
VCTC (Virtual Clinical Trials Centre) is a full-service UK clinical trial site supporting virtual, hybrid, and decentralised clinical trials.
Their work requires extremely high-calibre clinical staff who understand complex protocols, regulatory compliance, patient safety, and flexible trial delivery models.
Hiring in this sector is uniquely challenging:
High competition for qualified clinicians
Tight timelines dictated by study start dates
Candidates needing immediate onboarding and regulatory readiness
Any delays or weak hires can directly impact study delivery timelines and sponsor satisfaction.
Despite being a respected name in decentralised trial operations, VCTC struggled with:
Poor quality candidates from traditional advertising
Too few applicants for specialist roles
Very high recruitment fees, especially for clinical positions
Long lead times to source compliant, ready-to-start staff
Like many biotech organisations, they needed a partner who could increase candidate flow, deliver better quality, and dramatically reduce the cost per hire — without losing speed or compliance alignment.
VCTC selected ecruit’s 360 Package, combining:
This dual approach allowed VCTC to reach both:
Active candidates searching for their next clinical role
Passive, highly experienced clinicians who were not actively applying but open to the right opportunity
They chose the 360 Package because:
The vacancy was urgent
They needed both reach and precision
The role required clinical experience and immediate availability
ecruit offered support, expertise, and a dramatically reduced cost-per-hire
The goal was clear: increase candidate quality, expand the pool, reduce time-to-hire, and cut recruitment costs by up to 90%.
The primary vacancy was for a Research Nurse, a role often difficult to fill due to:
Regulatory requirements
Patient-facing experience
Clinical trial familiarity
Need for rapid onboarding
VCTC received high-quality applicants from both advertising and targeted headhunting.
They specifically praised the headhunting team for identifying exceptionally well-qualified candidates who could start immediately — solving a major operational bottleneck.
“I was unsure about using ecruit because of the low cost compared to traditional recruitment agencies. In our industry it was about 10x lower cost and so I was sceptical if it would work. I was very pleased with the quality and speed of the process, and it saved us £1000s on recruitment fees without any drop in quality.”
— Helen Shaw, Head of Clinical Operations, VCTC
This success led to multiple hires at a fraction of traditional recruitment cost, giving VCTC the agility needed to staff trials efficiently and maintain sponsor confidence.
The VCTC success story is a strong example of how biotech and clinical organisations can:
Reduce cost-per-hire by up to 90%
Attract more specialist candidates
Hire faster
Access both active and passive clinical talent
Run multiple campaigns without escalating costs
Speak with our team and explore how we support biotech, pharma, and clinical trial organisations.
No cost. No commitment. See the candidate quality for yourself.