Private equity specialist Graphite Capital has provided equity funding to enable education recruiter Teaching Personnel to buy supply teacher staffing specialist Protocol Education.

Graphite had backed the £45m management buy-out (MBO) of Teaching Personnel in July 2010.

Protocol Education has 18 branches in the UK and three offices overseas, while Teaching Personnel serves more than 4,100 schools from 34 branches across England and Wales.

Protocol Education’s Stephen Lawrence remains as chief executive and joins the executive board responsible for overseeing the enlarged group, while Teaching Personnel managing director John Bowman becomes group managing director.

Graphite is investing additional equity into the new group, alongside Stephen Lawrence and other members of Protocol Education’s management team who are re-investing a substantial part of their sale proceeds. Clydesdale Bank, which arranged debt finance at the time of the MBO, and Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance, are providing acquisition finance and working capital facilities.

The business has been bought from Bridgepoint Portfolio Services, which retains ownership of education recruiter Protocol National.

Senior partner Mike Tilbury, Mark Hall and investment manager Simon May managed the transaction for Graphite.