Recruitment firm’s acquisition moves it towards £1bn revenue target

Recruitment firm Staffline has bought Scottish company Brightwork as it moves 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.

Brightwork is a £35m-turnover firm based in Edinburgh which employs around 60 people. It specialises in temporary and permanent jobs in the drinks, warehousing, manufacturing and distribution sectors.

Andy Hogarth, chief executive of Staffline, said: “We have been increasing our capability in Scotland in recent years and this acquisition will accelerate the growth of both businesses as it provides scale, as well as greater geographic coverage and value added services.”

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