Tudor Acquisition just the job for first people

First People Solutions Group has become Scotlandís largest independently-owned recruitment consultancy following its acquisition of English-based Tudor Recruitment.

The deal, which is for a total consideration of up to 4.5m, has been supported by Clydesdale Bank and will give the Group an estimated turnover of more than 34m next financial year.

The rapidly-growing, Glasgow-headquartered company moved for Tudor ñ which specialises in technical and engineering vacancies ñ as part of its continued expansion into the English market.

With more than 100 staff and offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, the purchase of Surrey-based Tudor is the first acquisition for the Group which has grown organically in previous years. Further English offices will follow, with Manchester and Leeds earmarked as potential locations.

Founded in 1999 by managing director and majority shareholder John Hailstone, the Group has quickly established itself as a leader in its field with 55 percent year-on-year growth seeing turnover rise from 1m in its first full year of trading to 14m in 2005/06.

Operating across 15 recruitment sectors, the Groupís total solutions approach offers clients the opportunity to fill all their vacancies through one agency ñ reducing their supplier base and costs as well as guaranteeing a consistently high quality of recruit.

This all encompassing approach has allowed the Group to grow quickly and given the company a recession-proof way of doing business as it can redeploy its people depending on fluctuations in the various markets.

The company services a wide range of clients and is the preferred recruitment provider of leading names such as Clydesdale Bank, Foster Wheeler, JP Morgan, Amec and Haliburton.

Mr Hailstone said: ìWith more than 600 recruitment agencies working in Scotland our success has left the competition standing. We have enjoyed fabulous growth over the past six years and were the first Scottish agency to set up in London and begin to actively target that market. This acquisition will further strengthen our position in the south east and help contribute towards our goal of creating a UK branch network which will enable us to win greater national account business.

ìFirst People Solutions Group takes a partnership approach to doing business and itís this desire to be accountable to our clients and contribute to their success which has ensured that we have prospered in what is a highly competitive market.

ìThe Clydesdale Bankís support has been particularly valuable. We already knew from our work with the bank that they had been growing their teams around the country, through recruitment of staff with specialist corporate finance and banking skills. As a result of the blend of banking and corporate finance experience provided by Clydesdaleís Acquisition Finance team the bank has been quick to grasp the potential of our business and has worked with us through its network of Financial Solutions Centres ñ which shares our total solutions ethos ñ to make this acquisition a reality.î

David Henderson, Clydesdaleís Area Director for Acquisition Finance in the east of Scotland, added: ìFirst People Solutions Group has evolved into a major force in the recruitment sector in a very short space of time and we feel sure that this acquisition will be the catalyst for even greater growth in the future. We have been delighted to work with John and his team, and look forward to continuing our relationship with them going forward.î

A major player in the SME and corporate banking markets, the Clydesdale Bank is actively growing its business banking offering through its unique, UK-wide network of more than 70 Financial Solutions Centres which offer a ëone-stop-shopí for businesses and high-net-worth individuals.