Revelling in the sunshine, they look like typical British holidaymakers enjoying the hotel pool and bar. In fact, these are the employees – and bosses – of supply teacher agencies cashing in on state schools’ staffing crisis.
Workers from the agency Just Teachers Ltd were rewarded with a trip to Marbella’s £100-a-night Hard Rock Hotel – the same venue where, grinning ear to ear, co-founder of Zest Education Mike Talbot and its managing director Scott Barker were pictured clutching bottles of premium vodka by the pool.
The Zest agency’s jolly to the glitzy Costa del Sol haunt of celebrities and the super-rich was enjoyed by at least 20 of the firm’s top-performing employees.
The corporate blowout comes as a Mail investigation reveals how supply teacher recruitment firms are pocketing hundreds of millions of pounds to provide replacement staff for desperate state schools.
With staff shortages crippling the education system, agencies have banked record profits plugging holes caused by absences, long-term sick leave and an exodus from the profession.
Figures show schools paid more than £1.2billion for supply teachers in 2022-23, but agencies are estimated to have taken more than £300million of this in fees.
Nearly 14,000 teachers called in sick every day in 2023-24, according to analysis of official data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
Some 93 per cent of state school vacancies are filled by paying enormous sums to private recruitment companies.
Just Teachers Ltd employees on a company work trip to Marbella
Zest Education co-owner Michael Talbot clutching onto a super-size bottle of Ciroc vodka
In 2023-24, the amount spent on agencies by local authority-maintained schools rose to about £522million – significantly more than the roughly £411million spent in 2019/2020, before the pandemic, the TaxPayers’ Alliance found.
In 2022-23, academies spent £751million on supply staff, while local authority schools spent £486million – more than £1.2billion of taxpayers’ cash in total, and nearly double the £738million spent in the year before the pandemic.
An audit by the Mail, which examined the accounts of ten leading supply teacher agencies – all recommended by the Government – found on average the companies keep around 28 per cent of the amount they charge state schools after covering the wages of locum staff.
It means recruitment firms would have made around £346million in fees, if they all charged the average 28 per cent.
But the Government’s own research suggests some companies charge far more. A report published by the Department of Education last September found the average cost of a supply teacher to a secondary school is £291 a day.
But the estimated average daily take-home pay of a cover teacher was only £150 – meaning the agencies are taking £141 a day per teacher, or a cut of nearly 50 per cent on average.
The Mail was told one multi-academy trust paid mark-ups for supply staff of up to 45 per cent. It is not known which agency was involved.
But it is not the overworked school staff who are rewarded with trips to lavish beach resorts.
Scott Barker, Zest Education managing director holding a premium bottle of vodka in the sun
Instagram posts from Zest Education employees – under the caption ‘the only way is Zest’ – show swimsuit-clad revellers dancing on sunbeds and cabanas at the Hard Rock Hotel, which boasts that guests are made to ‘feel like a real rockstar’.
Forty-year-old managing director Scott Barker, sporting Balmain Paris designer swimming trunks, stands on a sun lounger near a bucket of drinks.
According to a company LinkedIn post, staff have previously visited Ibiza and Dublin for all expenses paid holidays.
Zest’s recruiters have also been treated to ‘company nights out’ and ‘incentive days’.
Chris McGovern, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher and founder of the Campaign for Real Education, branded the pictures a ‘slap in the face to teachers everywhere’.
A spokesman for Zest Education said: ‘We definitely don’t exploit our schools but rather support them by sponsoring forest school events for special needs students, school shoes for disadvantaged students at several schools, behaviour incentives along with several other things to support our schools and their students.’
Holidays abroad and extravagant rewards appear to be standard across the industry – paid for out of the profits they make from struggling schools.
Just Teachers Ltd is a ‘leading’ supplier of cover staff which enjoyed a turnover of almost £30million last year, with a gross profit of £8.9million.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said public companies should not profit off the education system
The agency rewarded staff with a trip to Marbella, where employees were seen sipping cocktails, jumping on inflatable pink flamingos and partying in one of the hotel’s two crystal clear pools equipped with underwater speakers and a DJ booth.
Among those pictured at the Hard Rock Hotel – the same spot enjoyed by the Zest team – was the company’s managing director, Caroline Cafferty.
On its website the company boasts about a variety of employee perks, including ‘fully expensed celebration days, breakfasts of champions, end of term drinks and socials’. Last year, its highest paid director made £207,676, accounts reveal.
A Just Teachers Ltd spokesman said: ‘We run occasional team building and training events to reward our best staff who often work 12-hour days to support UK schools.
‘Our margin covers the cost of our staff, a network of premises in the UK and Australia, systems and general overheads, leaving us with a relatively small net profit.’
The Mail has discovered a number of other companies, boasting vast profits and paying huge remuneration fees to directors, have also treated staff to similar sunshine breaks.
Lorraine Laryea, of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, defended the recruitment firms and their profits.
She claimed: ‘Supply agencies play a crucial role in supporting schools by providing skilled staff to ensure the continuity of high-quality education for pupils.’
But last night Labour MP and Commons education committee member Darren Paffey said: ‘These companies should remember that it’s taxpayers’ money they are paid with.
‘Excessive profit made from children’s education – particularly when the sector faces the challenges it currently does – is just plain wrong.’
Paul Whiteman, of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: ‘The current recruitment and retention crisis facing the sector has meant the demand for supply teachers has undoubtedly grown.
‘However, no private company should be making excessive profits off the back of this situation.
‘Ultimately, this is public money that should be spent directly on pupils’ education.’
Joanna Marchong, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: ‘Schools must take urgent action to reduce their reliance on costly agency staff and ensure that every pound is spent on delivering quality education.’
Last night, a Department for Education spokesman said: ‘Work has already begun to tackle the dire state of teacher recruitment and retention we inherited, including recruiting 6,500 new expert teachers so schools are less reliant on agency staff in the future.
‘To support schools to get better value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff, we have established the agency supply deal.’
