About the Bluestones Group

We invest in great recruiters, recruitment companies and staffing service organisations. The Bluestones concept is as simple as that. But our involvement doesn’t just stop at the investment stage. When our partner companies join the Bluestones Group they instantly gain access to an expanded network of support services, including HR, Finance, Marketing and IT functions – as well as the purchasing power of a larger organisation and an expanded network of recruitment specialists and subject matter experts.

Steve Pendergast, CEO and Founder

What we offer

Investment

Bluestones Group provides investment to get your business idea off the ground, to grow it organically with the help and support of an extensive network of subject matter experts and with the security of financial backing from a large, financially stable organisation.

Support

The Bluestones Group support network is like having your very own in-house team of HR, IT, finance and marketing specialists, without needing to sub-contract your work to external agencies and without the high overheads typically associated with employing teams of people.

Growth

When you’re part of the Bluestones Group, we want your business to grow. We want you to win new clients, place more candidates, secure new contracts and provide the first class service our portfolio of brands are increasingly known for.

Freedom

The Bluestones Group approach provides you with the freedom to make the right choices for you, without the distraction of the support, back-office and administrative functions and activities that can slow any business down.

What do you want to do next?

Explore our brands

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What we do

Setting up a new recruitment business

We know that starting any new business can be a daunting process for many. Even for those familiar with the way organisations are structured and the supporting infrastructure required can face challenges. At Bluestones, we completely remove these obstacles and provide a clear launch path that allows you to focus on actually running your business, recruiting or providing services to recruitment businesses.

Investing in established recruitment businesses

Our services and investment models aren’t only geared towards start-up businesses either. We’ve worked with a number of businesses that are already well established, but have wanted the support, expertise, investment and Group services to help them take their businesses to the next level – whether that’s increasing geographic footprint, growing the bottom line, or diversifying into new business sectors. Our team provide best practice advice and work with you and your team to develop a solution and roadmap that can help realise your ambitions for your business.

Developing staffing service companies

One of the common misconceptions about what we do is that our services extend only to recruitment agencies but that’s not the case at all. We invest in and have a range of support service businesses within the Bluestones Group portfolio, ranging from marketing and training services to financial services and funding. Collectively, the Bluestones Group portfolio is a self-contained powerhouse of recruiters, recruitment agencies and staffing service and support businesses.

Our track record

We’re growing at pace, employing a tried and tested approach to developing new business areas, launching joint ventures and investing in the future.

We have an enviable track record which has seen double or even triple-digit growth year on year. Despite this, we’re not standing still and have ambitious plans to continue this growth trajectory.

Joint venture numbers

Total number of employees

Group turnover

Our locations

Our multi-brand portfolio operates from strategic locations throughout the UK. In all, we operate across 18 locations in the UK, with some brands within the Group portfolio opting to co-locate for synergistic and/or financial reasons, or where services from multiple sectors can be cross-sold into clients in partnership arrangements.

All brands retain their individuality though and operate as separate businesses, all with the added support and infrastructure of the broader Bluestones Group.

The Group’s head office is based just outside Chester, with the mailing address being:

Bluestones Group, Telford Court, Chester Gates, Chester, CH1 6LT

Please use the contact form to get in touch with or call the main switchboard on 0151 665 0055

Our multi-brand portfolio operates from strategic locations throughout the UK.

In all, we operate across 18 locations in the UK, with some brands within the Group portfolio opting to co-locate for synergistic and/or financial reasons, or where services from multiple sectors can be cross-sold into clients in partnership arrangements.

All brands retain their individuality though and operate as separate businesses, all with the added support and infrastructure of the broader Bluestones Group.

The Group’s head office is based just outside Chester, with the mailing address being:

Bluestones Group, Telford Court, Chester Gates, Chester, CH1 6LT

Please use the contact form to get in touch with or call the main switchboard on 0151 665 0055

See which brands are in which location

Glasgow
- Bluestones One
Newcastle
- Bluestones One
Belfast
- Bluestones Staffing
Leeds
- Harrison Sands
- NC Associates
Halifax
- Cogent Staffing
Brighouse
- The Classroom Partnership
- The Teacher Training Partnership
Manchester
- NC Associates
Liverpool
- Chad Harrison International
- Connex Education
- MEP Resourcing
- NC Associates
- NWP Resourcing
Warrington
- Bluestones One
- Connex Education
- The Classroom Partnership
Worksop
- Bluestones One
Chester
- APEX
- Bluestones Group (Head Office)
- Bluestones One
- Bluestones Medical
- Cooperative Facilities Support
- Recruit Ready
- Recruitment Funding Solutions
- Recruitment Training Group
- Recruitment Industry Benchmarking
Nottingham
- Connex Education
- The International Teaching Partnership
Derby
- Bluestones One
- The Classroom Partnership
Birmingham
- Connex Education
Northampton
- Connex Education
Swansea
- The Classroom Partnership
Newport
- Bluestones Medical
London
- Bluestones Medical

Our portfolio

We’re rightly proud of every business and individual that we invest in and have developed an enviable portfolio of companies that span multiple geographies and industry sectors. They all have three things in common: 1) a desire and ambition to succeed, 2) have received investment & support from Bluestones Investment Group, and 3) provide specialist recruitment and recruitment related services in their target markets. We’ve listed a small selection of our portfolio below, but to view all companies, please click HERE.

Recruitment Industry Benchmarking The RIB Index provides benchmark data for recruitment companies.

Recruitment Training Group Recruitment Training Group works with recruitment companies to enable their growth via training, coaching and mentoring.

Bluestones One Bluestones One offer full fit-out, installation and merchandising services throughout the whole of the UK and Europe.

The Classroom Partnership Recruiting nationally in the education sector across early years, primary, secondary & special educational needs.

Bluestones Staffing NI Bluestones Staffing NI specialises in logistics, retail, and manufacturing across Northern Ireland.

NC Associates NC Associates is a professional services recruitment specialist with offices in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.

Harrison Sands Harrison Sands is a specialist recruitment to recruitment company.

APEX APEX is a recruitment marketing specialist company.

To view the rest of our portfolio, click HERE.

Our core values

The Bluestones Group culture is embodied in our core values. They’re simple concepts that really define what we do, how we expect our employees to behave and why we do what we do.

We’re passionate about the role we play in helping launch new recruitment businesses, in investing in established recruitment businesses and staffing service companies. We hope our passion shines through in our everyday interactions both within the business and with our external stakeholders.

We empower our teams so that they have accountability, owning their respective processes, parts of the business and brands, and knowing that they can make decisions and have leadership support and backing in their day to day roles.

The nature of the Bluestones Group with its shared support services and infrastructure, shared aspirations and goals, and shared vision for the Group means we all work well together. We’re collaborative in our approach, consultative and rely on the subject matter expertise that our broad network of specialists share.

And while working in this way, with our shared goals and aspirations, we want to know our employees are happy in their work; that we provide a great working environment, with real opportunities and a balanced environment where everyone’s voice can be heard. We want to see that enjoyment and know that we’ve created and are building a growing business where our teams want to work.

The Bluestones Group core values are summed up with the acronym PACE. We work at pace. We grow at pace. And collectively, the attributes of PACE means we’re greater than the sum of our constituent parts.

Passion

Accountability

Collaborative

Enjoyment