Brightwork if you can get it

The Scottish industrial division of a global recruitment firm was acquired today in a management buy out led by Charles Turner and Anthony Knight.

NASDAQ-listed Hudson Global Resources sold its industrial sector recruitment operation to Turner and Knight's Brightwork Ltd in a deal worth a seven figure sum.

The MBO, which secures 16 full-time jobs, benefited from funding from Clydesdale Bank's acquisition finance team in the bank's Glasgow Financial Solutions Centre (FSC). Private equity was also provided by entrepreneur Brian Williamson, chief executive of The Learning Organisation, who joins Brightwork's board as executive chairman.

The industrial arm of Hudson's Scottish operation (formerly Melville Craig) turned over £7m in the last financial year, during which it supplied, on average, 600 temporary blue-collar workers to more than 30 different organisations a week.

In the short-term, Brightwork will operate from Hudson's offices in Blytheswood Square, Glasgow, and Commercial Street in the capital, until alternative premises can be found in each city.

Turner says it will be business as usual for the firm's client list, which includes blue chip names in the warehousing and distribution, food and drink, manufacturing, and light engineering sectors.

Charles Turner said: "Anthony and I have been part of this business for 9 and 8 years respectively, so we're pretty confident we know the sector and our customers well enough to take the concept on and develop it under our own brand, Brightwork. We realised earlier this year that the industrial sector offering wasn't going to be part of Hudson's core provision in the future so Anthony and I started discussing tentatively the possibility of undertaking an MBO. It's been an exciting six months or so since then and I'm delighted to be at the stage of formalising the deal today."

"We've been fortunate to have received excellent backing - financial and otherwise -
from both Clydesdale Bank and Brian Williamson. We've been brilliantly advised throughout and have benefited from the bank's unique FSC concept which delivered exactly what we needed across various banking disciplines, with one dedicated relationship partner."

Lyn Calder, director, acquisition finance at Clydesdale Bank, added: "It's always particularly satisfying to be involved in deals like this one, in which management teams take ownership of businesses they've been heavily involved in for a number of years. Anthony and Charles saw a great opportunity to develop a business they felt strongly about and they have followed that vision through to fruition. I know they have plans to grow the business and I hope Brightwork will have a long and successful future under their direction."