Graphite gathers Huntress exit

The company has been bought out by its own management team with the backing of Nomura. The sale, and the refinancing which took place in 2005, has made the Trust a 7.6x return on it is initial investment, which took place in June 2000 when Graphite backed the start-up.

Graphite Capital partner, Mike Tilbury, said: “Huntress is a high quality company which has consistently delivered impressive levels of performance. Its success has been driven by the robust business model established at the start-up combined with its talented management team. We were able to support the company’s development with our extensive experience in the recruitment sector and the roll-out of other successful business models. Huntress is now well placed to leverage its growth across the UK and abroad with its new backers Nomura.”

Huntress supplies permanent and temporary staff across three UK sectors: commercial – which includes secretarial and office assistance – accountancy & finance , and technology. It has 17 offices in total, and operates predominantly in the south-east of England with a presence in other regions.

Huntress chief executive, Gary Laurence, commented: “Graphite supported us from start-up when the recruitment market was going through one of its most demanding periods. The business has expanded strongly since. With Nomura’s backing we will now build on our leading brand in the UK and abroad and look forward to further substantial growth.”