Construction recruiters Hill McGlynn and Beresford Blake Thomas (BBT) Technical & Professional, owned by global staffing firm Randstad, will merge on 1 October. The new organisation will undergo a period of rebranding within the UK and be called Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering from the 1 January 2011.

Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering UK operation will be led by Mark Bull, currently managing director of Hill McGlynn. Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering Middle East will be headed by Peter Reynolds, currently chief executive of BBT. The Asia Pacific division will be headed up by Deb Loveridge, chief executive of Randstad Australia and Canada will be led by Terry Power, country manager of Randstad Canada.

The next few months will see the integration of offices and personnel in the UK ready to present a seamless operation to clients and candidates from 1 October as the new organisation enters a soft phase of rebranding over the following 18 months.

“It’s an exciting move and one that is based on delivering commercial success and competitive advantage with the support of Randstad,”, says Brian Wilkinson, executive board director of Randstad Holding.

“We have two well respected and leading recruitment businesses operating in the same markets and increasingly they are duplicating energy and effort in talking to the same people. The merger will be a catalyst to bring together and combine strength, talent and expertise into one organisation and provide a strong platform for future growth and opportunity”.

Mark Bull, currently managing director of Hill McGlynn, has welcomed the merger and emphasised that by aligning itself to the Randstad brand, the new operation will be able to capitalise on the synergies between existing clients and other Randstad companies, allowing greater market penetration and tapping into latent potential:
“It’s about building a better future and ensuring our service proposition continues to develop to meet the needs of our clients and candidates,” he says. “As one integrated team, we have more potential to accelerate our growth and ultimately offer greater opportunity to the team of hugely talented staff that we have within our business.”

Peter Reynolds, who will head up Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering in the Middle East, says: “I see the merger as a great opportunity to strengthen our position in national and international world markets. We have the largest geographical footprint in the Middle East of any construction recruitment organisation and being part of the world’s second largest recruitment organisation gives us the springboard for further growth and scale”.

Randstad Construction, Property and Engineering branding within the UK will be phased in gradually across the next 18 months (completed 1 January) supported by an intensive marketing programme to clients, candidates and stakeholders to create awareness of the benefits and opportunities that will be available to them.

Please see our daily news alert later this morning for more on this story.