Paul Atkinson, Group Executive Chairman
The summer is always a reflective season – holidays mean thinking time, and the warmer weather seems to motivate everyone to make plans and think big. This time last year, we were just settling into a ‘new normal’ following a significant acquisition, and the seeds of Taranata as a group structure were only just taking root.
Wind forward, and we have achieved a lot to reflect upon.
One of the key challenges the leadership team set last year has been the yardstick of success across all our businesses. Could all four Group businesses create their own success, using the shared positives gained by being part of a Group, but retaining their individuality and niche credentials?
The answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
In our first figures released since we formed a Group turnover increased, and by a greater margin profit was also on the up. Some of that growth can be attributed to the acquisition of Change Recruitment in May 2017, but in larger part, increased activity across all Group companies changed our business significantly – particularly at Head Medical and Head Resourcing, which accounted for the largest share of the uplift.
In the last year, Group businesses have launched new service lines, sector offerings and expanded into new geographic locations. Head Resourcing opened a new Manchester office to capitalise on a thriving market in the north-west of England, and it brought to market Head Contractor Solutions, a new one-stop service for pre-engagement vetting, on-boarding and consultancy services. Change Recruitment launched a construction division and Head Medical won several new commissions, most recently securing a significant contract to provide overseas GPs to NHS England.
“Taranata is an investment vehicle built to lead the sector by bringing together the best in the talent business to react to the future, not the past.”
Simone Lockhart joined in March as Director of Strategic Development, to drive the Group strategy, including M&A activity and to work hand in hand with the leadership team to realise the growth aspirations of each business, incorporating cross-business initiatives and new product and service development.
So, the acquisition of Change Recruitment was the catalyst for restructure, but the bigger story lies within what’s to come. After almost a year of structuring and ‘whitespace’ review, we are now well placed to drive forward our ambition of £20m (net fee income) by 2020 through a mix of acquisition, growth and innovation.
We are currently in discussion with a number of potential acquisition targets and have plans to launch new service lines of our own. In all of this, our motivation is to outperform the expectations of our clients, staff and partners, both current and future. Those expectations are changing, particularly driven by the development of robotics and AI and their ability to offer insight to the recruitment process. In response, Taranata Group will adapt and innovate as an intrinsic part of its growth strategy.
In short, watch this space.