Specialist recruitment group Driver Hire has expanded its operations through the acquisition of a specialist provider of professional and labour services to the rail industry.

Bradford-based transport sector recruitment specialist Driver Hire, which is backed by private equity firm LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group, has bought Midlands-based Infra Safety Services Labour, which provides professional and labour services, minor works projects, track lighting and safety barrier solutions to the rail industry.

The move will create a group with forecast turnover of between £85 million and £90 million and is part of Driver Hire’s plans to diversify its operations.

ISS Labour employs 35 permanent staff at its Derby, Manchester, Stafford and Newport offices and more than 600 contractors throughout the track renewal and specialist projects market.

The business, which will continue to trade under its existing brand and with its current management team, has a wide range of blue-chip clients. ISS Labour also supplies and manages plant to support rail infrastructure projects, including track lighting and safety barrier fencing.

For the financial year ending June 2013, the company had a £12 million turnover.

The move is the latest in the Driver Hire Group’s diversification programme. It operates in areas including Driver Hire UK, is the country’s largest transport and logistics recruitment specialist. The division manages more than 3,000 drivers each day through more than 100 franchised offices employing 300 staff.

Driver Hire UK provides 5,000 corporate customers with staff including van, fork lift truck and fleet car drivers, warehouse operatives and logistics managers on both short-term and long-term contracts.

Driver Hire Training provides training to more than 30,000 transport professionals a year along with online training and licence checking services.

In 2012, the group launched Driver Hire Australia which operates in Perth and Brisbane.

Group IT and quality director Jeremy Neale has been appointed managing director of the UK recruitment business. Driver Hire Group chief executive Chris Chidley (pictured) said “The acquisition of ISS Labour further expands our offering and enables us to capitalise on rapid growth opportunities within the rail infrastructure sector.

“We look forward to having ISS as another stand-alone business within the group. We believe that each of our businesses will benefit from the synergies that will emerge from being part of a wider group.”

Gary Beeston, ISS Labour managing director, said the deal would help to overcome a severe shortage of skilled labour in the rail infrastructure sector which was needed to achieve the nation’s rail ambitions.

Steve Harrison, director at LDC in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “The transaction is a clear statement of Chris and his team’s intentions to expand the business and cement its position as a leader in niche sector specific recruitment. We look forward to further supporting the Driver Hire Group as it delivers its organic and acquisitive growth strategy.”