Education recruiter Teaching Personnel has been put up for sale by private equity owner RJD Partners, according to a report in yesterday’s Independent on Sunday.

RJD backed a £24m management buy-out three years ago by Barclays Private Equity.

An industry source told Recruiter: “RJD is halfway through the process of selling, and is engaged in discussions with a number of private equity houses about who is going to be the exclusive bidder before completing the transaction.”

The source adds: “This is an unusual time to sell a business that is reliant on the public sector because we are still the other side of the Comprehensive Spending Review.”

It is understood that adviser Clearwater Corporate Finance believes it can get around £50m for the business.

Teaching Personnel operates from 30 branches in England and Wales. Between 2006 and 2008 profits grew from £2.6m to £4.6m.

RJD declined to comment on the situation, and similarly no-one at Teaching Personnel was available for comment.