Fast-moving acquisitions help Meraki scale its recruitment platform

The client

Founded by entrepreneur Nick Gordon, Meraki Capital was established to identify recruitment businesses with strong potential and help them achieve sustainable growth.

Operating in the sector for many years, Nick recognised that many successful firms have a solid foundation but can benefit from additional investment and operational expertise to reach the next stage of growth. Meraki was created to provide exactly that, combining acquisitions with support across finance, marketing, technology and operations to help recruitment businesses build stronger, more scalable foundations.

For Nick, trust, transparency and being agile are fundamental to how they operate, both when working with acquired businesses and when responding to new opportunities in the market.

The challenge

Meraki's growth strategy relies on being able to move quickly when acquisition opportunities arise and that newly acquired businesses have the funds required to continue operating and growing.

For firms operating in the sector, cash flow can be particularly challenging. They often need to pay employees or contractors before receiving payment from clients, creating a gap between outgoing costs and incoming revenue. As they grow, that gap can widen, increasing pressure on working capital.

Having worked extensively within the sector, Nick understood the value of invoice finance as a tool for unlocking cash tied up in unpaid invoices. However, they needed more than a traditional funding facility - they required a financial partner with expertise in their market and the flexibility to support an acquisitive growth strategy.

The solution

Nick already had experience of working with Close Brothers and understood its approach to supporting growing businesses. From an early stage, the relationship was built on a shared understanding of Meraki's ambitions and the pace at which they intended to grow.

Close Brothers provided invoice finance facilities that delivered immediate access to funding, ensuring cash remained available for day-to-day operations while supporting acquisitions and the integration of newly bought businesses.

For recruitment businesses, invoice finance is often as a way of managing cash flow. In Meraki's case, it became much more than that. The funding structure strengthened liquidity, while helping support acquisitions and the integration of newly acquired companies.

Combined with its sector expertise and ability to respond quickly, Close Brothers delivered a solution aligned with Meraki's way of operating.

“Meraki needed more than a standard invoice finance facility. By understanding its long-term strategy, we were able to put in place a flexible structure that could evolve with the business and provide a strong foundation for growth.”

Steven Phillips, Corporate Sales Director, Close Brothers Invoice Finance

The result

Since launch, the company has completed multiple acquisitions, building a growing platform of recruitment businesses. Having a flexible funding structure in place has enabled the business to support acquisition activity while meeting ongoing operational requirements, maintaining momentum as it expands.

"Working with the team at Close Brothers has been an important part of our growth journey. They took the time to understand our ambitions from the outset and have consistently shown the flexibility and responsiveness we need as a business. Invoice finance has become much more than a working capital solution for us; it has helped us act quickly when opportunities arise and continue building the platform we set out to create."

Nick Gordon, Founder, Meraki Capital

Today, Meraki continues to pursue its vision of helping recruitment businesses scale in a modern, sustainable way, supported by a funding structure that can adapt alongside its ambitions.