Morson swoops for IT recruiter
Manchester-based technical recruiter Morson Group has swooped to buy rival The Bridge (IT Recruitment) Ltd, creating a company with turnover well in excess of £800m
Morson, run by high-profile founder and chief executive Ged Mason, claims to be the UK’s number one recruiter for the engineering design and project management sector with a global presence across, rail, aerospace defence, energy, infrastructure, IT and oil and gas industries.
The £806m-turnover company has more than 40 offices worldwide, and employs more than 1,000 people. It currently has more than 14,000 people registered for placement into jobs.
The Bridge has been prominent force in UK IT recruitment for the last 16 years.
Based in Leeds, the Bridge become a wholly owned subsidiary within the Morson Group, maintaining its brand and contracts whilst joining the Morson family. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Mason said: “The Bridge, one of ‘Recruiter magazine’s Hot 10 IT Recruiters’, has an extremely strong brand within information technology across a broad sector coverage and specific expertise in IT, analytics, digital, cyber and transformation projects.
“The combined IT offering of Morson and the Bridge means that we are extremely well placed for future growth within the ever changing fast moving technology world.
“A large percentage of the staff at the Bridge have been with the company for many years with a wealth of experience and knowledge sharing similar values and culture with Morson.
“We look forward to developing our market share and offering to our clients and contractors extended services and coverage as part of the enhanced Morson Group.
“We would like to welcome our Bridge colleagues to the Morson Group family, and look forward to a prosperous and exciting future together.”
A joint statement from Julian Goddard and Duncan Walker, founders of the Bridge, said: “Our priority has been to find a partner whose values assure continuity for our loyal customers of the Bridge’s unique offering.
“Equally important to us was to identify a management team who share the same care and respect for the great employees who have contributed so much to our success, many of them for the majority of the company’s lifetime.
“Our colleagues are looking forward to working as part of an enlarged Group. The exciting combination of the Bridge and Morson will see an extension of our capability across the wider technical sector and a worldwide presence.
“With more than 14,000 contractors on assignment and an annual group turnover in of more than £800m, the group will be able to offer a diverse range of services and enhanced coverage to our customers to the highest professional standards.
“In Morson, the Bridge has found the perfect home and we both look forward to working together with Ged and his team on taking our success to a higher level.”
Legal and financial advisors on the transaction were to Morson, Beyond Corporate and Deloitte and to the Bridge, Walker Morris and Dow Schofield Watts.
