Heads Recruitment sold to Proman Group

Initium has advised the shareholders of Heads Recruitment Ltd (HRL) on the sale of the company to Proman Group of France. The transaction also incorporates the sale of HRL’s sister company, Heads Engineering Ltd (HEL).

HRL, with annual revenue in excess of £50m, specialises in the supply of temporary labour to sectors including Manufacturing, Warehousing, Logistics and Commercial. The business was established by Chris and Christine Gorton in Manchester in 1983. At the time of the transaction, HRL engaged over 3,000 temporary workers in the field across the north of England.

HEL, with annual revenue in excess of £10m, focuses on the provision of contract engineering staff to sectors including Petrochemical and Process.

“Initium found an international player looking for a UK footprint, and helped us every step of the way” – Chris Gorton, Heads Recruitment

Proman Group is one of France’s largest recruitment services firms, with annual revenues in excess of €1bn, a headcount of over 900 staff across 250 offices and more than 30,000 contract workers in place at the time of the transaction. For Proman, HRL and HEL represented an excellent opportunity to enter a key European marketplace through the acquisition of two well-established recruitment businesses with broad customer bases and strong senior management teams.

Chris Gorton, HRL’s Chairman commented: “We could not have hoped for a more suitable buyer for our business – namely an international player looking for a UK footprint and with the ambition and resources to significantly grow our business. Proman is also a company which shares our family business values for integrity and staff welfare. Initium found that buyer, and helped us every step of the way.”

Simon Glover of Initium commented: “From the very outset the shareholders of HRL were adamant that the ideal acquirer would come from overseas. Chris and Christine Gorton were keen to see the business come under the ownership of a company that would invest for the long term, and in Proman they have found such a buyer. The proven ability of Initium to identify and reach out to such buyers was a critical ingredient in achieving a successful outcome.”