nGAGE Specialist Recruitment has reported strong growth in the full 2018-19 financial year against the prior year with turnover up 8% to ₤356M and NFI up 16% to ₤66M. Growth in temporary and permanent recruitment was relatively balanced at 20% and 14% respectively. This performance was driven by organic growth, including the continued development of its managed service businesses, the success of its start-up ventures and an exciting M&A programme. The growth of its international business was a key driver of growth in the last 12 months with international markets contributing 28% of NFI against 15% in the prior year and growing by 49% over the prior year. nGAGE is fast becoming a significant platform to grow specialist recruitment businesses.Leveraging its International Service Centre (ISC) and its 2.0 tech infrastructure and applications, nGAGE supports ambitious recruitment consultants to build and grow dynamic businesses which have the potential to become leaders in their market niches. Now, with an international offering these consultants can focus on deep global market penetration, in addition to outstanding service delivery. The group has developed a unique equity incentive scheme to allow entrepreneurial recruiters to benefit from the growth and value they generate.
The acquisition of Henlow, the international technology recruitment business, in late 2018 was a key milestone, further developing the nGAGE STEM pillar. Working closely with the Henlow management team whilst utilising the nGAGE platform the business has moved forward, including opening its first overseas office in the US focusing on its Quant sector clients.
nGAGE had historically focused on public sector facing markets and serving the temporary staffing requirements of the UK's public sector remains an important priority for the group. Austerity challenges within the public sector are well-publicised. Despite the additional disruption of IR35 legislative reforms and introduction of NHS pay caps, the group's public sector businesses have continued to perform well.
Tim Cook, nGAGE Group CEO, said, “This year has seen us develop the nascent domestic offices we opened last year and put significant horsepower behind our international strategy. Internationally, we are now in Dublin, New York, Austin-Texas, Berlin, and Munich and are preparing for Florida with some relish. There is now significant capability within the Group to support our International ambitions and we intend to exploit that to the max. We will continue the M&A programme, looking for specialist businesses to back and who want to join the nGAGE family.
nGAGE's proprietary technology capabilities have supported continued growth in its managed service business (Retinue) which have increased spend under management over the last year with some of our biggest wins ever. The Group now has Software as a Service (SaaS) portfolio of products to licence to other recruiters and indeed client-direct solutions. This year saw the sale of its first 'tech only' SaaS VMS and ATS product suites to a range of clients.
We also saw the creation of our International Service Centre in India designed to specifically support our businesses wherever they may be in the world, now and in the future, in an environment which can be scaled easily and efficiently.”
Tim Cook added, “Delivering exceptional value to the public sector, be that in Health, Social Care or Education is our driver in this pillar of the business. Our consultancy business has delivered many ‘Value for Money' (VFM) discoveries to enable the clients to extract maximum value from their supply chains. We consider our offering to be an asset to the Sector in this challenging austerity environment. “The UK Public Sector trading environment has of course been challenging but we have continued to grow and take market share which is very pleasing. We have significantly improved our delivery capability through the continued investment in technology and we are better placed than ever to capitalise on the opportunities ahead of us.
Our strategy is simple; continue to buy and start niche specialist recruitment business and grow organically our existing operations, all supported by our new International Service Centre and highly efficient operations platform. We will help them scale and internationalise – these businesses with our support, punch way above their weight!"
