• Manchester-based recruiter Careermakers Recruitment is to expand its business after securing seven-figure funding package from banking giant HSBC.

The agency said it will use the funding to strengthen its teams in Manchester and Wigan and to open new branches. At least 10 roles will be created in sales and admin departments. The deal was supported by HSBC Invoice Finance business development manager Richard Ford.

• US tech firm ClearStar has announced an integration with cloud-based talent acquisition solutions provider iCIMS.

The integration sees the technology and service provider to background screening industry integrate its mobile solutions for background screening and drug testing into the iCIMS talent platform’s suite of talent acquisition tools.

• Challenger bank Metro Bank has provided IT resource specialists Cranford Group with a £800k invoice finance line, enabling it to expand its business further across the North of England.

With offices in both Leeds and London, Cranford Group is a professional IT resource management business, specialising in flexible resourcing, contract resourcing and project resource across both the public and private sectors.

• OakNorth, a bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has lent closed-end investment company Literacy Capital £4.2m to take an undisclosed minority stake in financial and legal staffing specialist Dartmouth Partners.

Last week, Recruiter reported Dartmouth Partners had secured an undisclosed amount in investment from Literacy Capital to help it expand domestically and internationally.

• Procurement and supply chain staffing specialist Langley Search & Interim has become the subject of a management buy-out. The MBO was carried out by three of the agency’s directors – Michael Babatunde, Nathan Ramsay and Wis Amarasinghe.

Under the terms of the deal, the firm’s founder Christine Langley will remain with the business as a consultant until 2021.

• The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has turned to Essex-based recruiter One to One Personnel to help it find a new head of strategy and governance to support its senior team.