MITIE, the FTSE 250 outsourcing company, is has acquired UK CRBs Ltd, a criminal records checking service, from the management team.
UKCRBs is one of the largest providers of online criminal records checking services in the UK. MITIE says that this gives its Total Security Management business what it terms a scalable platform to compete in the rapidly growing screening and vetting market. UKCRBs will be integrated into MITIE’s employee screening offering, ‘PeopleCert’.
The combined business has 600 customers in health, financial services, education, communications and local authority sectors and the service will continue to be supported by MiTec, MITIE’s technology hub in Northern Ireland.
Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, MITIE’s chief executive, said: “I am delighted that UKCRBs has become part of our rapidly growing screening and vetting business. This acquisition will significantly enhance the services that we offer to our customers. The acquisition offers synergies with our existing security business and will allow us to bid for larger scale screening and vetting contracts.”
According to the contract guarding and other FM services firm, the UK outsourced screening and vetting market is estimated to be worth around £85m a year and growing, as companies identify the risks associated with recruiting individuals without a full knowledge of their background and the increasing regulation in this area.
