Three out of four GPs create jobs

John Bakie
04 September 2012

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Private equity-backed firms have been major job creators in recent years, despite being lambasted in the press for asset stripping, according to research by unquote".

A survey of 75 UK private equity funds, conducted for the unquote" British Private Equity Awards, found that 77% of funds saw job numbers within their investee companies rise over the past year.

In further good news, two thirds expect the number of jobs in their portfolios to grow in the next 12 months, despite tough economic conditions.

The research highlights the positive role of private equity funds and growth investors, despite the industry's reputation as a destroyer of jobs.

However, there are sharp variations between different types of funds. Small and mid-market funds tend to be more focused on job creation, and entries for the British Private Equity Awards back this up with small and mid-market houses demonstrating increases in employee numbers.

Examples include YFM's Metronet, which increased staff numbers more than four-fold to 37, while ISIS-backed Wiggle saw staff numbers rise over 500% to 252 during the holding period.

Kimberly Romaine, editor-in-chief of unquote", said: "Private equity has often come under fire for cutting jobs. However, our research highlights the fact that with private equity backing, many small and mid-market businesses are achieving substantial growth and as a result play a key role in strengthening the UK economy."

The unquote" British Private Equity Awards 2012 will take place on 4 October in London. The full shortlist is available HERE. To book a table, visit www.britishprivateequityawards.com