Worcestershire recruitment firm expands with new acquisition

GMP Recruitment, a Worcestershire-based firm placing candidates in logistics, manufacturing, engineering and permanent and temporary office roles, has expanded with the acquisition of local counterpart The Recruitment Company Midlands (TRCM).

TRCM, which is also based in Worcester, was founded 13 years ago. The company originally focused on recruitment in the automotive and aerospace industries, but now places employees across a wide range of sectors, including administration, engineering, manufacturing and warehousing.

The deal will see TRCM’s staff move across to GMP Recruitment, while the target company’s directors, including founder Tony Maguire, will step back from the newly merged business. TRCM’s Worcester offices will close and be merged with GMP’s Worcester base.

Commenting on the deal, Maguire said: "As a business, we weren't actively looking for a buyer, but Gareth and the team at GMP presented a really strong plan and vision for the future.”

"We've had a successful decade in business and built a really trusted reputation. That's something we're exceptionally proud of, but it was the right decision to become part of GMP Recruitment and we're confident our clients are in the best hands."

GMP director and co-founder Gareth Matts added: "TRCM is a business we know well and have always admired for its formidable track record and impressive local and regional client base. To complete the acquisition is an important step in our growth plans and we think it will be a fantastic fit which will significantly expand our presence in Worcestershire and the wider region.”

"We have some big plans going forward and bringing TRCM into our group will also add up to four new jobs over the next 12 months to help stay ahead of demand. More than anything, it's an exciting deal for us as we enter a new financial year in the best possible shape."

The acquisition comes amid a period of busy, sustained dealmaking in the recruitment sector. After a record-breaking 2021 in which 40 M&A transactions were completed in the UK recruitment industry, deal volumes slowed in line with the bulk of other sectors last year, but remained solid at 35 – close to the previous decade’s high of 36, recorded in 2018.

Recruitment industry M&A is being driven by several factors, one of the primary reasons being a growing pool of buyers, with acquirers in the recruitment space ranging from private equity firms and overseas investors to smaller “generalist” industry incumbents, such as GMP Recruitment.

Other factors include the impact of COVID-19 - which boosted deals for healthcare recruitment firms, the emergence of new innovative technologies – which has driven interest in STEM sector specialist recruiters – and the UK’s fluctuating jobs market, with high vacancies and low unemployment having driven demand for recruitment services during 2021 and 2022.


You can read more about the increase in recruitment sector M&A activity here.

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