Pre-pack sale of recruitment firm safeguards jobs

A NUMBER of Tyneside jobs have been saved in the pre-pack sale of recruitment business Zenith People out of administration.

- TOM KEIGHLEY Business writer [e-mail]

Angela Anderson, founder of Zenith People Limited

The Hebburn-based firm, a specialist recruiter in the manufacturing, engineering and industrial sectors, encountered difficulties last year amid the collapse of a key customer and after it was refused support from the Redundancy Loan Scheme to help trim its workforce in the face of financial pressure.

Zenith had been loss making for two years amid what has been described as a “serious contraction” of its market and increased employment costs.

Following pressure from HMRC, administrators were called in late last year, before the business was marketed, and then a sale to director Angela Anderson agreed for £126,000, part of which is payable over several months. The deal safeguards 11 jobs along with about 80 temporary staff.