Hot Group Plc expands into traditional recruitment market with 5m acquisition

Hot Group Plc has today announced they have acquired Parkside Recruitment, a traditional recruitment company specializing in both temporary and permanent employment. The 5.5 million deal marks a further development in the Hot Groupís strategy of creating a leading recruitment company that successfully combines the online and traditional recruitment business models.

Hot Group is now the UKís fifth largest supplier of online recruitment services. The acquisition of Parkside will complement its online presence and provide a major step in building a traditional recruitment division. Established in 1989, Parkside focuses its activities in the Greater London and the Thames Valley region through three offices in Bracknell, Uxbridge and Staines. It primarily serves the local staffing needs of large UK and international companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Amazon, Honda, Waitrose, Air Products and ICI Paints.

Hot Group Plc Chairman and CEO Tony Reeves said: ìThis is another major step forward in the development of our Group and represents the beginning of the second phase of our three-phase growth strategy. Having succeeded in growing the online business, we are now expanding into the traditional agency business. The acquisition of Parkside will provide the cornerstone for our planned expansion into this arenaî.

ìWe are continuing to grow the business quickly by implementing a progressive acquisition strategy. Earlier this year in a 3 million deal, we bought PlanetRecruit Limited, a leading supplier of online services for recruiters and jobseekers. We are extremely excited about our potential and see a huge number of opportunities for future growth in what is now a very fragmented market. Whilst the two divisions (online and traditional) will remain independent entities, we will be looking to develop a third hybrid service to clients that will combine the best of the online resourcing service and the benefits of its bespoke management software whilst retaining personal interaction through professional recruiters from the traditional business. We believe that this new service will radically change the face of recruitmentî.

ìWe are currently in negotiations with a number of other potential acquisition opportunities which we hope to announce in the near future.î