Member Article

Recruitment firm embarks on ambitious expansion plan at new Chester office

A growing recruitment specialist part-owned by a Dragon’s Den star is planning on doubling its staff numbers after moving to a custom-fitted new office in Chester.

Growing recruitment firm Matt Burton Associates (MBA) is aiming to recruit from the Chester area to fill its new 60-capacity office at Honeycomb Chester over the next 12 months.

The company, which James Caan’s Hamilton Bradshaw Group has invested in, is recognised as a leading specialist in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). It manages recruitment services on behalf of businesses in the banking, retail, automotive and professional services sectors.

MBA moved to the Honeycomb Chester business community, on the Chester Business Park, at the start of March in a deal brokered by commercial property agents Beresford Adams Commercial and Legat Owen.

The move comes at a busy time for the company, which has also been shortlisted for an accolade at an industry-leading national awards ceremony for the second year running.

MBA has been nominated for the Outstanding Outsourced Recruitment Organisation award at the 2016 Recruiter Awards, which take place on May 4 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

The new 3,000sq ft office, which has been fully customised as part of a turnkey agreement with the letting agents, will help facilitate MBA’s growth plans.

Chief executive of MBA, former King’s School student Matt Burton, said: “The business has grown year-on-year by about 28 percent, and we’ve ambitious plans to continue to grow over the coming year.

“We’ve had several office moves over the last few years as the business has grown, and in Honeycomb Chester we’ve now found a location befitting our reputation as a leader in our field.

“We have 27 staff at our Chester office and there’s capacity for about 60 people here. With our planned rate of growth, we hope to fill this office over the next 12 to 18 months.

“I’m from Chester originally and have always had a vision of developing the business here. We’ll be looking to recruit from the Chester area to meet our growth plans.

“There’s a good pool of talent locally and the area offers a great proposition for our employees, with good schools and the university close by.

“We have a very low turnover of staff compared to industry standards, and a strong track record of developing our workforce. In fact, our team leaders at the Chester branch all started their careers here.”

The new Chester office has been fully fitted to MBA’s specification, and includes air conditioning and a custom designed office space.

Fraser Crewe, director at Beresford Adams Commercial, said: “We’re increasingly finding that businesses are looking for premises which can be customised to their requirements, allowing them to move straight in without having to think about reconfiguring the office or any renovation work.

“The ability to provide a turnkey solution is one of the key assets of Honeycomb Chester, which has been extremely popular since it opened a year ago.”

The Matt Burton Associates project is the third turnkey office fit provided at Honeycomb Chester, following the arrival of jewellery manufacturer ChloBo and investment management firm Deepbridge Capital in 2015.

Will Sadler, associate director at Legat Owen, said: “The beauty of the Honeycomb development is that it provides a quality working environment which can be expanded.”

For more information on accommodation at Honeycomb Chester, visit www.honeycombchester.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .