Ellis Fairbank rescued after administrators are called in

MORE than 100 jobs have been saved at Leeds-based recruitment firm Ellis Fairbank after administrators sold the business and its assets to several of the firm’s directors.

Joint administrators, Mark Firmin and Richard Fleming, of KPMG Restructuring, were appointed to the recruitment group Ellis Fairbank, Ellis Fairbank Holdings and Chrome Tiger at the request of the directors yesterday.

The group’s business and assets were then sold, including its two French-based offices, to IHR Group.

Jason Martin, a director at IHR and a former director at Ellis Fairbank, said the company had been trying to secure an invoice discounting facility without success.

LDC, which backed Ellis Fairbank’s management buyout in 2001, is a minority shareholder in IHR.

Mr Martin said administrators were working through Ellis Fairbank’s list of remaining creditors who he hoped would be reimbursed.

Mark Firmin, joint administrator and KPMG partner, said: “I am delighted to have secured a deal to sell the business and assets of the group that allows trading to continue and safeguards 110 jobs, largely in the UK.”