Aliter Capital establishes platform for growth of UK technology recruitment specialist
Aliter Capital LLP (“Aliter”), the private equity investment specialist focused on small to medium-sized UK support services businesses, has announced the completion of its investment in Dudley based Concept Resourcing (“Concept”) as part of its recently raised second fund.
Concept is a technology and field service engineering resourcing and recruitment business focussed on placing technology roles on both a temporary and permanent basis. Concept has a blue-chip customer base through strategic partnerships with world leading technology services providers and manufacturers in both the private and public sector, across the UK.
The UK technology recruitment sector has recovered strongly from the pandemic with staff hiring hitting record levels in 2021, and with this growth expected to continue.
Majority shareholder Chris Short is leaving the business whilst current managing director and shareholder Matt Gillen will remain with Concept to lead it through its next phase of growth. Matt joined Concept in 2017 after 18 years with Michael Page.
Chris Short said: “When I founded Concept 20 years ago, I had a vision of building a business that could capitalise on the advancing technology markets and help ambitious individuals find exciting career opportunities with a great portfolio of clients. Concept has achieved all of that and much more, but more importantly, is now poised for further growth through expansion both in the UK and internationally. Aliter is the perfect partner to support the next phase of that journey. Their investment strategy aligns precisely with what Concept needs, and their values and ethics are exactly matched to ours. Matt Gillen and the management team are ready, willing and able to take this journey with Aliter, and I leave the business confident that the Concept legacy couldn’t be in better hands.”
Matt Gillen said: “Concept has attracted excellent, committed professionals, and invested in their training, development and progression. As a result of these efforts, we have experienced tremendous growth over the past five years. We made the decision to approach Aliter Capital having witnessed their outstanding track-record first hand with some of our support services clients. Their approach of working closely with the management to drive and deliver organic and acquisitive growth strategies was very much aligned to our own plans. I can’t thank the Concept Team enough for their support and input along the journey so far. We’re really excited to join Aliter’s portfolio and will continue to offer an outstanding service to our clients and candidates.”
Aliter partner Billy Allan said: “Concept have built an enviable reputation as one of the UK’s leading recruitment and resourcing consultancies within the field engineering and IT arenas, with a strong reputation for delivery, backed by an established senior team that are highly regarded. We are delighted to be backing Matt and his talented team to develop the leading specialist technological resourcing businesses in the UK. We already have a plan in place for strong growth and further acquisitions.”
This latest deal is consistent with Aliter’s investment strategy of acquiring and integrating smaller businesses to create sophisticated and professional medium sized operators within fragmented markets. Aliter’s strategy focuses on using its deep industrial expertise and broad networks to drive both organic and acquisitive growth to gain scale and a national footprint.
Billy Allan added: ‘We are backing Matt and his team to develop a group of specialist recruitment businesses, focused on technology and related STEM sector roles (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). We also intend to develop the business selectively in key international markets.
About Concept (www.conceptresourcing.com)
Concept Resourcing was founded by Chris Short in 2000 and has grown strongly over the last two decades. It is a leading independent resourcing and recruitment consultancy and managed service provider supplying specialist skilled contract and permanent staff to technology, field engineering, sales and procurement sectors. The business now employs 80 people and has an established client base which includes blue-chip companies, high-growth technology firms and major public sector organisations.
About Aliter
Aliter Capital LLP is a specialist UK support services investor founded by a group of seasoned support services entrepreneurs and investors – Billy Allan, Greig Brown, Andy Galloway and Andrew Busby – and focuses on small and medium-sized businesses in the UK support services sector, a market valued at over £300 billion. Its approach differs from traditional private equity models by making only a limited number of selective portfolio investments to deliver dedicated hands-on support. Aliter has funds under management of more than £215 million and has now closed a total of 21 transactions since the beginning of 2017.