Cork-based Mackin Group kickstarts expansion with UK deal

Cork business services provider Mackin Group has acquired UK recruitment specialist Greybridge Search & Selection in a deal the Irish company’s founder said gives it a strong foothold in the life sciences and digital transformation fields in Britain.

The group, founded by Dundalk native Andy Mackin in 2004 originally as a health-and-safety advisory company before branching into talent acquisition, has grown substantially in recent years and counts several blue-chip multinational technology companies among its clients.

Mr Mackin said the acquisition of west midlands-based Greybridge is an “exciting” development for the group, which he said is lining up other deals as part of its 10-year growth strategy. He declined to comment on the price tag but market sources have indicated that the cash and debt deal, supported by AIB, is worth €1.5 million.

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“They’re kind of areas that we’ve been branching into slowly but it gives us good market share in terms of the life sciences, data, AI [artificial intelligence] and digital transformation side of things, which were kind of areas that we were going to [be] moving towards anyway because they are growth spaces and will be growth spaces for a considerable amount of time,” Mr Mackin told The Irish Times.

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“It gives us that little bit of dipping our toe into the water in those fields.”

Mr Mackin, a finalist in the international category of EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards in 2020, said the group already has a small presence in the UK, mainly to support its tech company clients over there. But the deal for Greybridge, which joins Mackin Group officially on Monday, gives it the “perfect opportunity” to diversify its offering.

“The two companies are very aligned and have very similar values,” he said. “It’s based on the relationships and treating their people well, so it kind of ticks all the boxes for us.”

Silicon Spa

Greybridge is headquartered in Leamington Spa, nicknamed Silicon Spa for the cluster of tech and gaming companies based there, and will continue to trade under its own brand after joining Mackin.

Matt Neale, outgoing chairman and founder of the UK company, said the business is “delighted” to be joining the bigger group. “We were impressed that the ethos of the Mackin Group is always focused on fully assessing and supporting their client’s long-term needs.”

Looking ahead, he said that while there has been something of a slowdown this year with some larger organisations “pressing pause” on hiring, he expects group revenues to grow this year. “But that has definitely been buoyed by the environmental, health and safety consulting side of the business, which has performed strongly in the second quarter and the pipeline looks very strong for the rest of the year.”