£20m funding to help training firm’s expansion
ONE of the UK’s leading specialist recruitment and training firms Acorn Group has secured a £20m invoice finance package from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking to help support its growth.
The funding will provide the company, which has its headquarters in Newport, with working capital to support its clients and to place more people into the workplace.
Acorn’s specialist recruitment teams place thousands of people into work across the UK in areas such as IT and digital, construction, rail, engineering, legal, industrial and executive search. This new facility from Lloyds Bank will help increase capacity as it takes on new clients across the UK.
Founded in 1992, the company has grown significantly over the past 25 years, and it now employs 270 people across 38 offices across the country.
Andrew Tugwell, group operations director at Acorn Recruitment, said: “Flexibility is key when running a recruitment firm, and the new funding package will provide us with the working capital that we need to support our expansion. “We’re experiencing a sustained increase in client demand and every week we place 6,500 people into the workplace across the UK and internationally.”
Paul Williams, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Acorn is committed to providing the best possible service to its clients and the support we’ve provided will allow them to expand without impacting day-to-day cashflow.
“Offering a range of funding products is one of the many ways that we’re helping Britain prosper, as it allows firms to access a variety of funding options that can be tailored to suit their growth plans.”
Moreover, Acorn has been nominated in the three categories of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) Awards.
It has been shortlisted for the business leader of the year for its group commercial director Scott Liddle, permanent consultant of the year for Chippenham branch manager Kristy Moore, and best support team for the group’s marketing team.
Acorn’s managing director Matt Southall said: “This is fantastic news for everyone at Acorn.
“Having a director, a manager and a team shortlisted in these highly reputable, national recruitment awards is testament to the hard work that we all do on a dayto-day basis.
“From one branch launched 25 years ago to 35 branches and onsite support offices throughout the UK offering leading recruitment support within a number of specialist industries, I couldn’t be prouder of how far we have come, and it’s thanks to the commitment and loyalty of every single employee.
“The nomination for our commercial director is the latest distinction in an extremely successful year for Scott, who was shortlisted in the Institute of Directors UK Awards following his win in the IoD Wales Director of the Year Awards within the medium-large business category just a few months ago.”
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on December 6.