A leading north east recruitment and outsourced HR business is looking to create hundreds of jobs in the North East in the next five years as it continues to see soaring local, national and global demand for its specialist services to the STEM sector.

Jackson Hogg has grown consistently since being established in 2012 and now employs over 110 people between its bases on Tyneside, Teesside and Leeds, with its teams supporting clients across the world working in the science, technology, engineering and manufacturing industries.

Now, the business – which works extensively across Europe and the United States and Canada – is looking to build a specialist team of around 500 people as it continues to expand its offering across recruitment and HR.

The latest office has been established in Leeds to expand the local geographical reach, within the UK, and to take advantage of the strong talent pool in the area. As well as the expansion into Leeds, Jackson Hogg will keep focused on growing its site at CBX in North Tyneside, as well as on the Belasis Business Park in Billingham, where Jackson Hogg has just moved to a bigger site to accommodate further expansion.

To support its growth plans, the business has secured a significant investment from NPIF-FW Capital Debt Finance which is managed by FW Capital and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, as it pushes on with making its ambitions a reality.

Helen Broadhead, Finance Director at Jackson Hogg, said continual innovation and development to meet the needs of the marketplace are key to its growth.

“Taking aside the financial result in 2020, owing to the global pandemic we’ve seen constant growth since 2012,” says Helen, who is on the board alongside founder and CEO Richard Hogg and COO Anthony Broadhead.

“The STEM sectors  will always be our core focus, but we have developed along the way to add more to our offering and give even more to our clients. Our recruitment offering has strengthened year on year as we continually look to support clients with finding new talent solutions.  From our initial focus on the north east market, we have now expanded internationally providing permanent and contract placements.  Our contract offering has evolved extensively, most recently having launched our Industrial temporary worker solution.  As part of this we are one of the few agencies in the north east to hold a Gangmasters license allowing us to supply workers into the food industry.  This has been very well received by our clients and we look forward to seeing further growth in 2024.

“Beyond our recruitment offering, we expanded into HR services, enabling us to provide a flexible HR partnership to clients.  This area of the business has also been a key growth area, and will continue to be a key focus area of Jackson Hogg over the coming years.

“While our plans are ambitious, I look back at what we’ve achieved so far and the growth we continue to see, and as a result I am very confident we can achieve our vision.”

While Jackson Hogg works with clients internationally, it is committed to delivering jobs and investment within its native North East of England and Yorkshire.

“We have the expertise and talent here in the region, and of course Yorkshire, to be able to work globally, and the growth we’re seeing shows the quality of the team we have,” says Helen.

“The fact we have clients who have been with us since almost day one says a lot about the way we work and the relationships we build, and our purpose – “because everyone deserves to love what they do”, by this we mean our colleagues, clients and our candidates.

“We’ve just added a new office in Leeds, which we hope will replicate the success of Newcastle and Teesside, and we’ve just taken a lease on a bigger office on Teesside to help accommodate our demand there.

“Teesside is a big growth area for us and the quality of STEM businesses there is outstanding – we are excited about the potential there, in addition to the ongoing progress we continue to see from our team in Newcastle.”

Jackson Hogg was supported in securing investment by award-winning boutique WilliamsAli Corporate Finance, and FW Capital provided the funding from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

“Both WilliamsAli and FW Capital have been fantastic to work with and we’re so grateful for their support,” says Helen.

“This is the first time the business has taken any investment, but we felt this was a great fit and are very excited about the future.”

Abu Ali, Managing Director of WilliamsAli, and Executive Tristan Woolcock, supported Jackson Hogg.

“This is a business truly making waves around the world from its bases in the North East, and their long-term commitment to the region is evident through its ongoing investment and job creation here,” says Tristan.

“Their track record of diversifying to meet the changing needs of clients shows exactly why Jackson Hogg has seen the growth it has, and with this investment, they are able to look to the next phase of global development with confidence.”

Alexandra Gent, Senior Investment Executive at FW Capital, said: “Jackson Hogg have an excellent reputation in the North East and the growth they are seeing, particularly on Teesside, is outstanding. There is huge potential there, and in Leeds, for strong progress.

“The ethos of the business is central to its success, and the positive and committed culture runs from top to bottom. We’re very pleased to have been able to support Jackson Hogg and to help unlock its next phase of growth.”