Fast-growing staffing company targets string of acquisitions
Wrexham-based staffing company gap Personnel, which has five operations in the North West, is looking for acquisitions to build on a strong sales performance in 2016.
The company has taken on Newcastle-based Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance to target potential acquisition companies.
Gap, which employs 260 in 44 locations across the company, hit sales of £36.4m in the last quarter of 2016, a year-on-year increase of 17%.
The company claims to have become one of the top 10 industrial labour providers in the UK. It covers more than two million shifts for in excess of 1,500 companies each year and has a turnover of about £130m.
Gap companies provide temporary and permanent staff and training across the commercial, logistics, FMCG, manufacturing, waste management and recycling sectors.
It is targeting companies in these markets, which offer blue-collar, semi-skilled and skilled personnel, with turnover between £2.5m and £25m.
This latest acquisition drive follows on from Gap Personnel’s most recent deals, which included the purchase of a significant stake in facilities management recruiter Catch 22 at the end of 2016. It is also expected to complete the acquisition of a training company by March 2017.
Mark Roberts, group managing director of gap, said: “We are very proud of our achievements, which are in line with our three-year business plan and our ambitions to become a more prominent player in the market.
“In the recently compiled Recruitment International Top 500 Companies report, we were listed as the 7th largest Industrial recruiter in the UK; we are aiming for a Top 5 position by 2018.
“Quarter four of 2016 was particularly encouraging as we saw an upsurge in demand from distribution and manufacturing clients, which is a very positive development in the current, post-EU Referendum economic climate.”
Carl Swansbury, partner at Ryecroft Glenton Corporate Finance, said: “The pace of gap Personnel Group’s growth is very exciting and this next stage of acquisition-driven expansion will aim to further enhance its market position and geographic reach.”
