Parasol plans growth as Optionis
EMPLOYMENT services firm Parasol has unveiled a new corporate indentity and says it plans to target new markets.
The Warrington-based company provides “umbrella” company services to contractors and freelancers, taking a fee for sorting out PAYE and tax payments.
Parasol and sister companies Clearsky, which provides business services to SMEs, and sales performance software firm Silverline, will now operate under the Optionis brand, apparently Latin for assistant or helper.
The group plans to target growth in the small and medium-sized enterprise market (SME) and offer legal and niche tax services. It says it will either launch or acquire new businesses to achieve its goals.
Chief executive Rob Crossland said: “Optionis is a corporate brand that better articulates our group of businesses and their aims and objectives.
“When we started on our journey as Parasol we were very much focused on being an umbrella company but the group is now so diverse that this is no longer the right brand for the group to sit under.
“Optionis gives us room to innovate and grow our business across a much broader range of activities which in turn allows the businesses we partner with to get on and grow.”
There was little change in sales and earnings at Parasol last year. In the year to April 1 pre-tax profits were static at £4.6m on sales of £377.9m, down 1%.
It had 8,321 contractors on its books last year, up three on the previous 12 months. The business was co-founded by chief executive Rob Crossland almost 12 years ago. He then led a £23m management buy-out in November 2006 backed by Inflexion Private Equity, which took a majority stake.
