ReAct strategic partnership working: what works

ReAct: the case for collaboration

The ReAct Partnership is an industry-led, active collaboration to support a continuous improvement community in the Restart programme through action research, shared and iterative learning, and the development of applied, evidence-based resources. The Partnership is co-funded by the eight ‘prime providers’ for the Restart programme — FedCap Employment, AKG, G4S, Ingeus, Maximus, Reed, Seetec and Serco — and is being managed by the Institute of Employment Studies (IES), working alongside the Institute for Employability Professionals (IEP) and the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA).

The Restart primes are sponsoring the ERSA conference in November 2025. In the conference run up, the ReAct partnership will release a series of briefing papers highlighting key research from the collaboration and how the insights can inform solutions to Get Britain Working.

Achieving the ambition of an 80% employment rate through local Get Britain Working Plans will take more than delivering programmes – it demands a culture of collaboration. In our first briefing paper, we reflect on the partnerships between employability services and local stakeholders and the factors that lead to strong relationships. The insights from the ReAct partnership underscore that effective partnerships are intentional, built through visibility, trust, and shared purpose. By embedding cross-sector collaboration into the foundation of employment support, providers can unlock the full potential of local support systems.