Staffline Regulatory News (STAF)

For immediate release 19 March 2018

STAFFLINE GROUP PLC ("Staffline" or "the Group")

Acquisition of Endeavour Group Limited

Staffline, the Recruitment and Employability organisation, announces that on 16 March 2018, it completed the acquisition of Endeavour Group Limited ("Endeavour") and its subsidiary Vital Recruitment Limited ("Vital"). Vital was incorporated in 2006 and is a leading blue-collar recruitment business in the East of England, focusing on the Food, Agriculture and Logistics sectors. The acquisition will significantly increase Staffline's scale and presence in the East of England, supplementing the Group's existing Food and Agriculture offerings in that area. Audited accounts for the year to March 2017 show that Endeavour had a turnover of £83m and a profit before tax of £0.5m.

The acquisition is expected to be earnings neutral in the current year and is being funded out of Staffline's existing resources.

Chris Pullen, Chief Executive Officer of Staffline, commented:

"We are thrilled to announce this strategic acquisition of Vital. The acquisition will bring an extensive network of connections and resources in the East of England and will further strengthen our Food division and help us to increase our market share in Agriculture. The acquisition supports Staffline Recruitment's vision "to be the trusted market leader, providing a single destination for Blue Collar workers and employers to connect across the UK". With a number of large blue-chip clients, Vital will help further extend the Staffline network".

In addition, Staffline is pleased to announce two smaller acquisitions during February, both having an annual turnover of less than £5m and a profit before tax of less than £0.5m:

1. UK Distribution Personnel Limited: incorporated in 2000, predominantly a driver recruitment agency based in the South East of England.

2. M&B Staff Services: trade only purchase. A staffing recruitment business based in the Republic of Ireland.

About Staffline

"Enabling the future of work"

Staffline is a leading workforce recruitment and management organisation providing services, mainly in the UK and Eire, to both Government and commercial customers. The Recruitment division (previously 'Staffing') supplied up to 52,000 workers per day in 2017 to more than 1,500 clients. The PeoplePlus division is a leading provider to both Central and Local Government, as well as commercial customers, offering a wide range of services to help and support in the Employability (Welfare to Work), Justice, Communities and Skills arenas.

Recruitment

Specialising in providing complete labour solutions in agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, e-retail, driving and the logistics sectors, the Recruitment business operates from over 400 locations in the UK, Eire and Poland. The Recruitment services include:

· Staffline OnSite, based on clients' premises and providing both blue and white collar, managed, temporary workforces

· Driving Plus, providing HGV drivers to the driving industry

· Staffline Agriculture, providing workers to the UK farming and horticulture sectors

· Staffline Express, our high street branch based operation

· Brightwork, a recruitment business based in Scotland specialising in temporary and permanent jobs to the drinks industry

· Diamond Recruitment, one of the largest providers of recruitment services in Northern Ireland

PeoplePlus

A trusted partner in delivering employability, skills and well-being services. Contracts span Central, Local and Devolved Government and the Private Sector, including:

Employability:

· Work Programme, prime contractor in nine regions and sub-contractor in three regions in England and Wales

· Fair Start Scotland, prime contractor in two regions commencing April 2018

· New Enterprise Allowance (business start-up support), prime contractor in three regions of England and Scotland and a sub-contractor in Wales

· Steps to Success, prime contractor in Northern Ireland, an employment programme to build skills

· Tackling Youth Unemployment through the MyGo service in Suffolk, the Youth Promise Plus in Birmingham and the Wirral Youth Employment Gateway

· Building Employment through Education, working in Schools in Northern Ireland

Education and Training services:

· Prime contractor to the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Welsh Government and Skills Development Scotland, providing Adult Education and Apprenticeships

· Delivering Apprenticeships programmes for the Private Sector, via the Apprenticeship Levy and non-levy programmes

Justice and Community services:

· Ministry of Justice, Transforming Rehabilitation in Warwickshire and West Mercia, delivering rehabilitation services

· Delivery of education and training to prisoners in ten prisons in the East of England and London

· Independent Living Services, supporting 3,500 disabled people lead independent lives

· Access To Work, providing adaptation in the work place for people with disabilities - national contract.

· Support for the users of Prison Visitor Centres for the Northern Ireland Prison Service

· Carers Hubs in Stoke and Staffordshire