Takeover set to save £230m recruiter from administration

A £230m-turnover recruitment firm based in Brighouse is set to be acquired in a deal that could save the struggling business following major contract losses and investigations into working conditions for its temporary staff.

Assist Resourcing, a subsidiary of Russell Taylor Group, is said to be nearing an agreement to acquire Transline according to Sky News.

Transline filed a notice nearly two weeks ago indicating it was on the brink of administration, and renewed it nine days later to allow time for takeover talks.

Directors said “tighter margins” were to blame for its difficulties and that it would need £6m investment from a potential buyer.

The notice allowed a stay of execution for the company which had been implicated in “Victorian” working practices at Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse, as well as Asos operations in Barnsley.

Transline supplied thousands of workers to the company’s operations there, but were hit by investigations into working practices at the warehouse, and the company’s directors were pulled up infront of MP Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

In the wake of investigations by the media and scrutiny by MPs, Transline reportedly lost major contracts with Amazon and Asos.

A deal for the business is expected to be completed in the next week.