Opco AKTO: how a training provider works with temp staffing, cleaning and private security

A training provider working with temporary staffing agencies, cleaning companies or private security firms eventually asks how to “get in” with AKTO, the skills operator for these labour-intensive sectors. The answer actually depends on two quite distinct mechanisms at this OPCO: one-off funding, open to any Qualiopi-certified provider, and listing in AKTO’s online catalogue, which requires being selected through a call for tenders. Here is how it actually works.

AKTO, the operator for labour-intensive service sectors

AKTO supports companies and employees in professional branches marked by high staff turnover and fast-changing skill needs: temporary staffing (interim), cleaning and related services, private security, hospitality and fast food, contract catering, wage portage, and personal services. Each of these branches is attached to its own collective bargaining agreement, identified by its IDCC code, which ultimately determines the funding rules applicable to a given client.

If your organisation works with companies from different sectors within AKTO’s scope — a temp staffing agency and a private security firm, for instance — do not assume the same scale applies to both: our method for identifying a company’s OPCO and IDCC remains the starting point for clarifying this before building a proposal.

The mandatory requirement: Qualiopi certification

Whichever channel you use, access to public or pooled funding first depends on a single core requirement: Qualiopi certification, mandatory since 1 January 2022 for any training, apprenticeship, VAE or skills assessment action. A non-certified provider can neither be named in a standard funding request nor bid for an AKTO tender, however relevant its offering is to temp staffing or cleaning.

This requirement is not specific to AKTO — it applies to every OPCO and public funder, as covered in our OPCO funding guide — but it remains the essential prerequisite before any AKTO-specific step.

Two distinct ways of working with AKTO

This is where the relationship with AKTO clearly differs from what is observed with other OPCOs such as Atlas or Afdas.

One-off funding, open to any certified provider

A company affiliated with AKTO can, as with any other OPCO, request funding for a quote issued by any Qualiopi-certified training provider, without that provider needing to appear on any pre-established list. It is the client company that builds the funding request with AKTO, under the rules and caps specific to its branch; at this stage, your organisation has no listing process to undertake.

The Espace Formation catalogue, accessible through public tenders

AKTO also offers an online catalogue, Espace Formation, where member companies search for training by sector, topic, date and region, and enrol their employees directly — with funding and administrative management then handled by AKTO with no further formality for the company. But appearing in it requires a training provider to have first been selected through a public call for tenders, published by AKTO in particular on the achatspublics.com platform. This selection works through competitive bidding: any interested provider can apply, but listing in the catalogue is neither automatic nor permanent.

What applying to an AKTO tender involves

Applying to an AKTO tender means responding to a public contract, which changes the nature of the file to prepare compared with a standard quote: a technical proposal detailing your teaching methods and resources, client references, and the full set of supporting documents usually required in this type of procedure. This is a significantly heavier time investment than one-off funding, best reserved for providers whose offering durably matches the recurring needs of one or more AKTO sectors. If your organisation is later approached as a subcontractor by a bidder selected on another public training contract, a different regime applies: our article on subcontracting a public training contract covers the DC4 declaration and direct payment.

In both cases — one-off funding or the catalogue — the clarity of your programme sheet remains decisive: operational objectives, prerequisites, duration, pricing and teaching methods must appear unambiguously, in line with indicator 1 of the National Quality Framework. A vague programme sheet eliminates a tender application just as surely as it discourages a company from choosing you for standard funding.

A particular stake for high-turnover sectors

The sectors covered by AKTO share a common trait: staff turnover is often high, in temp staffing as much as in private security or fast food, which directly weighs on the return on training investment for member companies. A study by economist Susan N. Houseman, published by IZA World of Labor, shows that temporary work agencies genuinely invest in training their temp workers only when that investment serves as a retention argument amid a shortage of qualified labour — otherwise, the risk of a trained worker leaving quickly discourages the spending. For a training provider, this finding points to a concrete sales argument with AKTO clients: an offer that shortens the time between enrolment and a trained employee becoming operational often carries more weight, in these sectors, than a long but generalist programme.

Mistakes to avoid

• Waiting for AKTO listing before approaching a client: for one-off funding, the only prerequisite is Qualiopi certification.
• Confusing standard funding with the Espace Formation catalogue: these are two distinct channels, with very different upfront requirements.
• Applying to an AKTO tender without a solid technical proposal, assuming a standard quote will suffice as it does for a one-off request.
• Ignoring branch-specific rules: the same programme is not necessarily funded under the same conditions in temp staffing, cleaning or private security.

Take action

Whether your organisation targets temp staffing, cleaning, private security or hospitality, the entry point remains the same as for any other OPCO: solid Qualiopi certification and a flawless programme sheet. The Complete Kit Certif (€297, 14-day guarantee) provides programme-sheet and evidence templates compliant with indicator 1 to secure your catalogue and your tender responses. If you are starting your training provider, the ebook Setting up a training provider in 30 days (€67) covers the administrative basics, and the Complete Pack (€347) brings both resources together.