ONE of the key players behind the takeover of Production Services Network (PSN) by Wood Group is opening a base in Edinburgh as he aims to double turnover at his human resources consultancy.
Dean Hunter, who guided PSN through its management buyout from Halliburton in 2006 and then served as director of integration in last year’s takeover by Wood Group, will open his office in the Scottish capital later this month.
Hunter launched his consultancy firm, Hunter Adams, in Aberdeen in June 2011 and aimed to turn over £1 million during 2012. He said he passed that figure in September and so has upped his target to £1.6m before the end of the year.
He hopes to turn over £3.5m in 2013 and key to this strategy is the launch of the Edinburgh office, which will initially create five jobs. Staff have grown to 30 workers in Aberdeen and Hunter aims to employ the same number in the Central Belt.
Hunter Adams – which lists Aberdeen Football Club, BG Group and Cairn Energy among its clients – is targeting financial services companies and other professional firms in the capital.
Hunter said: “We’re not just looking to win business from the Central Belt, we’re also looking to bring work in from other areas. The quality of the HR staff in Edinburgh is superb.”
Hunter added that the company’s expansion strategy would include looking at acquisitions in the Central Belt and that he would consider taking on bank debt to fund any takeovers.
The opening of the Edinburgh office had been funded out of the company’s existing cashflow, he said, and any other organic growth would be funded using reserves. The company is already working with clients in Azerbaijan, Canada, Norway, Singapore and the United States, as well as clients across the UK, including businesses in London and Southampton.
The firm supplies its own staff to work in larger companies’ HR departments for set periods and also offers HR services to smaller businesses following the takeover in May of Aberdeen-based specialist Spectrum HR. Jenny Murray, the owner of Spectrum HR, has remained with Hunter Adams as its head of outsourcing.
In May, Hunter branded Business Secretary Vince Cable’s efforts to persuade Prime Minister David Cameron to abandon his proposals to give companies powers to “fire at will” as “totally misguided”. He said that bosses needed to be able to deal with under-performing workers.
