Acorn Occupational Health acquired by listed group Spire

Stock market listed healthcare business Spire Healthcare has acquired Acorn Occupational Health for £3.3 million as part of its ambition to grow the primary care side of the business to become a £40m EBITDA business in the medium term.

Acorn provides Occupational Health services to a wide range of corporate clients in multiple industry sectors; as well as public-sector clients, including the NHS. 

Spire has won contracts in Mental Health/Occupational Therapy, opened more new clinics and is seemingly now very much in play for more acquisitions.

Acorn’s services support the safety and overall well-being of employees, through mental and physical health assessments, and providing solutions designed to protect employees from work-related ill health and sickness absence.

Acorn, founded by Andrew and Isabel Burrows in 2004, generated EBITDA of £0.63 million in 2024, at a margin above that of the Spire Group. 

A potential small further deferred consideration payment may be payable to Acorn management dependent upon EBITDA in the 12-month period after acquisition. The core management team will be staying with the business post-acquisition.

The deal expands Spire’s national footprint in Occupational Health Services alongside Vita Health Group and Spire Occupational Health. 

The company views the wider occupational health market as a £1.5-2bn market opportunity in the UK, growing at c6% per annum. 

In a statement to the stock market Spire said the acquisition will “provide further capability to win new nationwide contracts and support organic growth through the development of a wider range of services across the group, the sharing of best practice models to accelerate performance and more efficient clinical resourcing.”

Occupational health revenue stood at £121.0 million in 2024, with EBITDA of £10.3m.