Restructuring at Sewell Moorhouse

THE recruitment company run by Cliff Sewell has undergone a pre-pack administration.

Sewell Moorhouse has been rebranded as Sewell Recruitment Group following the move which has seen 23 jobs saved but 11 staff made redundant.

Two offices have also closed, leaving two operations based in Leeds and Sheffield serving sectors including financial, administration, secretarial and HR.

Mr Sewell, who originally launched the business in 1997, told TheBusinessDesk.com that the pre-pack administration – which has seen the business shed its debts and its assets sold immediately upon appointment by the administrator back to Mr Sewell  – had been necessary because of difficult trading conditions.

“We had no choice but to restructure the business in this challenging recruitment market,” Mr Sewell said. “The recruitment industry is changing rapidly – none more so than over the last 12 months.”

Mr Sewell, who retains 100% ownership of the organisation, said he was aiming to grow the business to employ 50 staff and exceed its £3m annual turnover.

He said the organisation would offer “additional business services support” to its clients alongside traditional recruitment services and has launched a ‘client relationship team’ to support this.

He added that the number of creditors had been kept low.

Sewell Recruitment Group was advised through the administration process by Alice Pratt of Leeds-based law firm Clarion.