Multi-services firm snaps up Nottingham recruitment company
A company that specialises in M&E, recruitment and facilities management has expanded after acquiring a rival and opening two new arms of its business and says it wants to employ 120 people within five years, TheBusinessDesk.com can exclusively reveal.
Think Services Group, which has offices in Heanor and Mirfield, West Yorkshire, has bought Nottingham blue collar recruitment firm Handystaff in a deal led by its chief operating officer Bradley Gough, a former Handystaff employee.
HandyStaff has been trading since 2013 and provides temporary recruitment to the construction and engineering sector. The acquisition sees Adam Innocent join Think Services Group as a shareholder and chief development officer, while Robert Appleby has joined as the chief commercial officer. Appleby has spent the last 13 years as a commercial director at a £35m shopfitting contractor and brings over 30 years’ construction experience to the group.
Meanwhile, Think has also expanded by opening Think Fire and Security and Think Interior Services – a specialist contractor working on fit out projects.
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, Gough said: “Having worked with both Adam and Robert in the past in different capacities, we had a brief conversation and I found out that they both we’re looking for something more. Immediately I knew I had to broker a deal with to bring them into the group.I couldn’t be prouder to announce them as our new partners, with their appointment, the acquisition of HandyStaff and the introduction of two new specialist think companies, this is a statement to the world that by 2030 we will be nationally renowned, admired and will be one of the UK’s leading construction biased group of companies.”
Innocent said: “I am delighted to join the board of Think Services Group Ltd and take HandyStaff Ltd into its next chapter. I am joining a team of highly motivated and experienced business leaders with a plethora of business and commercial experience and acumen, I bring along a wealth of recruitment business knowledge to support the board and take HandyStaff Ltd and Think Services Group Ltd into the next stages of their development.”
Appleby told us: “When I received the call from Think for a meeting, I was a little sceptical at first with them being a fairly young player in the industry. After spending just an hour with Brandon (Rowlands, chief executive) and Bradley, I was sold on the vision the pair had for Think as a business and as a brand, it really didn’t take me long to make up my mind.”
Rowlands said: “Its been a whirlwind over the last few weeks, what we have managed to achieve in terms of attracting Rob & Adam, acquiring Handystaff and launching two new companies is virtually unheard of as a young business. We are extremely pleased to welcome Robert and Adam to the business and we are looking forward to seeing the Interiors & Handystaff divisions develop under there leadership. Having worked in the interiors business myself, I am confident that in Rob and Adam we have an exceptional leadership in our industries with unrivalled and priceless knowledge. Our recruitment philosophy is to employ the best people in industry and look after them. As soon as I became aware of Robert and Adam and that they were potentially looking for a new opportunity, I knew we had found our the missing pieces.”
