The two Bristol-based recruitment pioneers behind some of the city’s top business success stories have launched an investment programme to help entrepreneurs in the industry develop their own companies.
Over the past four decades Mike Beesley and Keith Dawe have created a group of independent companies that are now some of the fastest growing in the UK and Ireland, including Sanderson and Resource Management, which are part of the Resource Solutions Group (RSG).
Now the pair have launched TIMESTWO Investments to offer funding to start-ups and scale-ups along with the advice and support tools needed to succeed.
Located in an incubation hub in Pill on the outskirts of Bristol, TIMESTWO will support people-focused entrepreneurs who have identified a market and are ready to make a go of it on their own.
In its initial phase, it is on the lookout for investment opportunities with South West entrepreneurs. It plans to expand UK-wide within 12 months.
Along with financial investment, TIMESTWO will supply business essentials such as brand development, marketing, IT, finance and legal services – all under one roof so that founders can concentrate on what they do best.
Mike, who remains CEO of RSG, said: “We are looking forward to talking with interesting market makers who want to make a difference in the recruitment industry.
“The opportunities for people businesses are at an all-time high, with the industry growing quickly and sustainably as well as developing innovative new ways of thinking.
“So, it’s the perfect time for the next generation of recruitment entrepreneurs to seek to start or expand a business and for us to provide bespoke, targets investment that will truly work based on our own experience.”
Keith Dawe, who is a director of Sanderson and Resource Management, has been a long-time investor in Bristol City FC. He stepped down as club chairman at the end of last season after seven years in the post. He first invested in the club in 1996. Over that time Sanderson and RSG have served as the club’s main shirt sponsors.
Keith Dawe, left, and Mike Beesley at the TIMESTWO incubation hub in Pill. Photo by Freia Turland
