Staffline Regulatory News (STAF)

23 September 2020

STAFFLINE GROUP PLC

("Staffline" or the "Company")

Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

Staffline, the recruitment and training group, announces the appointment of Albert Ellis, currently Non-executive Director, as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 October 2020.

Albert was appointed to the Board of Staffline in March 2020 and has extensive executive level experience in the recruitment and human capital sectors. Most recently, Albert served as Group Chief Executive Officer at Harvey Nash Group, the AIM quoted technology recruitment and IT outsourcing group, for 14 years before it was sold in 2018. Prior to his time at Harvey Nash, Albert spent five years at Hays Plc, the FTSE 250 professional recruitment business, where he held various roles as a Senior Finance Executive.

Albert is a qualified Chartered Accountant, a Trustee of Asia House and a key contributor to Cambridge University's Jesus College Conference work on the future of employment and the jobs market.

Albert will step down from his current position as Chair of Staffline's Audit Committee, and the Company will announce a new appointment in due course.

Following a suitable period of operational handover and transition, Ian Lawson, currently Executive Chairman, will move to Non-executive Chairman of the Board on 31 December 2020.

Ian Lawson, Executive Chairman of Staffline, commented:

"For an individual of Albert's calibre to take up the role of Chief Executive is testament to the underlying fundamentals of our business. Albert brings almost unrivalled expertise in our core staffing and training outsourcing markets, we believe the Company will significantly benefit from his leadership qualities and his focus on best practice and corporate governance.

"Whilst the current market backdrop continues to present a number of challenges, we are delighted that Albert will be taking up this role as Staffline moves into the next phase of its evolution."

Albert Ellis, Chief Executive of Staffline, commented:

"Having joined the board earlier in the year, I believe that Staffline has excellent long-term prospects underpinned by its scale in its core key worker staffing markets and leading market positions in training and employability outsourcing. I look forward to working even more closely with the wider management team as we drive the business forward with a view to returning to growth and realising value for our key stakeholders."

For further information, please contact:

Market Abuse Regulation

This announcement is released by Staffline Group plc and contains inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 ("MAR") and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of Staffline Group plc was Ian Lawson, Executive Chairman.

About Staffline - Recruitment, Training and Support

Enabling the Future of Work™

Staffline is the UK's market leading Recruitment and Training group. It has three divisions:

Recruitment GB

Staffline is the UK's leading provider of flexible blue-collar workers, supplying approximately 40,000 staff per day on average to around 450 client sites, across a wide range of industries including agriculture, supermarkets, drinks, driving, food processing, logistics and manufacturing.

Recruitment Ireland 

The recruitment Ireland business is a leading end to end solutions provider operating across 20 industries, 10 branch locations, 15 onsite customer locations and offering RPO, MSP, temporary and permanent solutions across the island of Ireland.

PeoplePlus Division

Staffline is the leading adult skills and training provider in the UK, delivering apprenticeships, adult education, prison education and skills-based employability programmes across the country.