Recruiter Sellick Partnership set for £100m turnover and acquisition in 20th year

Jo Sellick, founder of Sellick Partnership

Recruiter Sellick Partnership is on course for a record year with revenues set to reach £100m on the back of demand for strong candidates across the professional services sectors.

The Manchester headquartered firm, which has offices across Liverpool, Derby, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent, London, and Newcastle has experienced continued growth during 2020.

Following a strong performance which saw 2021 revenues exceed target climbing 31% to £72.7m, the firm plans for further growth including an acquisition which could see Sellick grow its footprint across the country.

Jo Sellick, founder and managing director of Sellick Partnership which marked its 20th anniversary last month, said: “Covid had an impact within the markets that we operate. For example, we do a lot of work with the NHS and with local government, areas which we have specialised in for 20 years and those areas have needed people especially over the past two years, and it is where we have seen huge growth.

“There has also been a huge demand for quality lawyers and finance professionals, and we don’t see significant change in this.

“As a result, we have also taken on 40 new staff across our offices as we prepare for another busy year.”

Sellick is now actively looking to do an acquisition in the South West or the South East to grow its UK offering.

Jo said: “We’re a Manchester business and have strong roots across the Northern region, but as we have been growing our footprint, it’s become clear to us that we need a location in the South of the country as there’s plenty of growth opportunities for us there and an acquisition will be the way forward.

“We’re talking to people and ideally we want to work with a business that shares our values and ambitions and having the right people on board is critical.

“We’re excited about this as it will give us a huge opportunity to continue to develop Sellick and focus on delivering a brilliant service for our clients.”

Looking back on 20 years at Sellick, Jo recalls on some of the biggest changes in the industry.

“I remember placing our first candidate 20 years ago during Christmas at my mum’s house.

“We were in the process of incorporating the business when I received confirmation for a temp placement. We had to send the information, which was handwritten, via a fax machine.

“We worked throughout Christmas and in January 2002 we were up and running. Back then we did not have LinkedIn and other jobs platforms or national frameworks.

“Business was done through relationships, and even though the tech has moved on, having those client relationships is still important.

“We have got to where we are today with hard work and with good people.

“We’ve created a culture that people want to be part of and through difficult periods such as the financial crash and the pandemic, having those good people in the team and having the right procedures and processes in place has helped us get through challenging times to come out stronger.”

One of the biggest transformations for the business came when Sellick Partnership sold a majority stake to one of Europe’s largest soft service providers, Samsic, in 2019.

Samsic was founded in 1986 and is based in Rennes, France and is one of Europe’s largest business service providers employing 90,000 people in 25 countries, generating a turnover of €2.6bn annually.

Hannah Cottam, Ray Wareing, Thierry Geffroy, Jo Sellick, Gilles Cavallari of Sellick Partnership

Jo added: “That was a huge deal for the business and has given the company the backing to accelerate our growth in the UK, while giving Samsic a wider UK footprint.

“They’re a family business, they can make decisions very quickly and we were delighted they decided to invest in Sellick and in our people.”

Looking ahead at the recruitment market, Jo said both Brexit and the pandemic has changed people’s views about their careers and the way they work.

“Brexit saw a lot of people move away from the market; the pandemic has changed how people want to work,” he said.

“People are retiring, they’re changing careers, they’re going back to university or college, people have spent time realising what they want from their lives such as flexible working.

“And so, we’ve seen businesses looking more closely at what they can offer people from flexible working options to wellness strategies in the workplace.

“Candidates are often receiving multiple job offers, as well as their current employers trying to offer more for them to stay on so it’s not just about a good salary, but the whole package.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close