Tokyo based Simon Childs, Managing Partner for Recruitment  Transactions International, welcomed the appointment.

“Tremayne is an obvious choice to take on the German market. This is a huge potential for us but we recognise that culturally Germany is very different. As Tremayne has worked extensively in country for many years and speaks the language fluently, he has built an awareness second to none. The fact that he has also been on the very front row on a significant recruitment transaction is a tremendous asset.”

Germany’s top 50 recruitment firms are less dominant in terms of percentage market share than other European recruitment markets.

According to research by Staffing Industry Analysts relating to 2020 figures, the top 50 firms accounted for 41% of market share. In the UK this figure is 54% but even more concentration can be seen in the Netherlands, France and Italy where the top 50 firms account for 65%, 84% and 95% respectively.

German fragmentation is even more pronounced for the mid market for qualified talent, most of the Top 50 are engaged primarily in AüG or staff leasing which is more associated with blue collar or low to semi qualified talent.

Another interesting trait of the German recruitment / staffing market is that although the top players, Randstad, Hays and Adecco each boast domestic turnover of well over €1Bn, the lower end of the top 50 are generating less than €40m in revenue.

So although there are no clear numbers for just how many recruitment companies exist outside the well documented “Top 50” a commonly quoted number is c.5,000.

The scope for M&A

Recruitment Transactions, led by Tremayne Elson, will be scoping out this large pool of potential acquisitions. Whilst every company is different it’s a reasonably accurate assumption that there are many firms that are not realising their true potential. Either through lack of funding, ambition & vision, innovation or market driven factors such as internal recruitment, staff training, development and retention, a modern client acquisiton strategy, creative sales and marketing and a host of other reasons.

based on many 100’s of conversations with local owners I’ve concluded that many, but by no means all, (MDs) here are not that familiar with the process of how to scale a business for sale, or how to go about the sale process itself.

So there’s high potential, but a lot of work to do from a less developed starting point. Watch this space. If you are interested in learning more about how to prepare your business for sale, or are ready to take that step please contact me.

If you are looking to acquire a recruitment business in Germany, please reach out.