Nottingham recruitment giant to bid for NHS staffing agency, says report

Staffline, the Nottingham-based recruitment giant, is set to launch a takeover bid for NHS Professionals, according to reports over the weekend.

Sky News says it has learned that Staffline tabled a bid on Friday to take over NHS Professionals, the government agency which supplies 88,000 doctors and nurses to UK hospitals.

Reports say that Staffline is down to a shortlist of two bidders for NHS Professionals which is thought to be worth £50m.

Two years ago Staffline bought the Welfare to Work provider A4E.

In its latest accounts, NHS Professionals posted profits of £9m on a turnover of £750m.

News of the bid comes amid a general election campaign that is increasingly centres around public services, and the NHS in particular.

Earlier this month, Staffline bought Scottish company Brightwork as it moved closer to achieving annual revenues of £1bn.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, sees the Nottingham-headquartered firm continue its strategy of expanding its operations in Scotland.

It follows on from Staffline’s purchase of Oak Recruitment in March. The Irish firm has offices in Cork, Dublin and Limerick.

Staffline’s pre-tax profits rose by 244% in 2016, to £18.9m, on the back of revenues growing 26% to £882.4m.