New Street Group Acquires Wickland Westcott
April 3, 2019 – Consulting and people solutions business, New Street Group, has announced its acquisition of London-based executive search and leadership consultancy Wickland Westcott. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Wickland Westcott provides executive search, leadership and management consultancy services. With over 40 years of experience, Wickland Westcott blends commercial judgement with psychological expertise to enhance organizational and individual performance. Its leadership services include finding and appointing C-suite level positions, coaching, team development, leadership assessment and psychometric testing.
“The acquisition of Wickland Westcott further enhances New Street Group’s capability to support organizations seeking intelligent, assessment-led resourcing solutions,” said Doug Baird, CEO of New Street Group. “This acquisition will allow New Street Group to meet these growing demands, whilst adding further depth and breadth to the services already offered to our clients by our resourcing businesses Interim Partners and BrightPool. This is hopefully the first of many acquisitions we plan to make as we continue to grow and internationalize our business.”
Colin Mercer, managing director of Wickland Westcott, said the change will be a positive for all involved. “Clients will continue to benefit from our passion for delivering leadership solutions whilst also gaining access to an enhanced range and depth of capabilities,” he said. “We look forward to working with Interim Partners and BrightPool to deliver further value for existing and prospective clients and to lead the next stage of Wickland Westcott’s innovation and growth.”
Chris Clegg, non-executive chairman of New Street Group, advised on the acquisition along with James Fawcett of Gordons LLP and David Forrest of BHP Corporate Finance.
Acquisitions
A number of private equity, staffing and advisory companies have acquired executive search firms over the past year. Here’s a sampling from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
Aleron Group, a global workforce and business solutions company, acquired TalentRISE effective immediately. Founded in 2008, TalentRISE supports companies in nearly every vertical — retail, manufacturing, technology, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, e-commerce, and more — with custom and comprehensive talent acquisition solutions.
The Power of Talent Ltd. (Bidco), an entity owned and controlled by investment funds managed by DBAY Advisors, has made a £98.7 million bid to acquire London-based recruitment firm Harvey Nash. David Morrison, investment director of DBAY, said his firm was pleased to have reached agreement with the Independent Harvey Nash directors.
Executive search firm Vaco was recently acquired by Stamford, Conn-based private equity firm Olympus Partners. Founded in 2002 by Jerry Bostelman, Jay Hollomon and Brian Waller, Vaco partnered with its first private equity partner, Quad-C Management, three years ago.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media