Recruitment firms planning to expand after deal for 60% stake

Crewe recruitment business, Absolute Solutions Group, has been acquired by £200m-turnover gap personnel group.

The Wrexham-based business, part of OpenUp Group Inc which is listed on the Japanese stock exchange, has taken a 60% stake in the Cheshire operation, for an undisclosed sum.

The deal will see the two firms team up to utilise each other’s technologies, experience and infrastructure to better serve customers and expand their reach within the UK recruitment market.

With a 300-strong workforce, gap is one of the UK’s largest industrial recruitment providers.

Absolute Group Solutions – which includes Absolute Recruitment, Absolute Commercial, Absolute Health and Care and Winsford-based Bralin Recruitment – has a large blue chip customer base across Cheshire and Staffordshire, along with a long standing and highly experienced team which operates from branches in Crewe and Winsford.

Dan Marshall, joint chief executive of Absolute Solutions Group, said: “The cultural fit between Absolute and gap personnel is perfectly aligned, enabling us to build on our ambitious five-year growth plan and expand nationwide.

“Our people-focused recruitment model, combined with the geographic and operational infrastructure of gap personnel, places us in an ideal position to bid for new client contracts, and introduce new cutting-edge technologies to streamline and strengthen our service. The timing of the deal is spot on, too, as it coincides with Absolute’s 20th anniversary.”

Mark Roberts, gap personnel group managing director, said: “We’ve witnessed Absolute Solutions Group’s growth since its early days, so when the opportunity to welcome them into the gap personnel group presented itself, we were keen to move quickly.

“Together we’ve agreed strategic objectives to achieve future growth, and we are confident this partnership will strengthen our network and provide an even higher quality service to both our clients and candidates.”

Both recruitment businesses provide temporary and permanent recruitment to industrial, professional, healthcare and technical sectors.