A recruitment agency run by two brothers has gone from a spare room enterprise to a near £7 million turnover business in less than seven years.

Conor and Rob Winchle from Gloucester launched Ivy Resource Group six-and-a-half years ago, recruiting solely for the construction industry.

Rob said: "We started from home in the spare room. It was just me, Conor, two computers and a whiteboard."

Having moved out of the spare room, as the business grew, the pair moved into rented premises at various business parks in the area, most recently at Court Business Centre at Twigworth.

Now they have expanded further, having bought a new 2,300 sq ft office at Wheatstone Court, Quedgeley, investing over £400,000 on the building and refurbishing their new headquarters.

The firm now employs 13 staff and has recently extended from recruiting solely for the construction sector into the education sector as well, taking on three new members of staff

Conor said: "We're covering primary schools, secondary schools, nurseries and academies across Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. We've created a team of four recruitment consultants who all have years of experience in the education sector so we are well placed to provide a great service across all areas.

"The new division is to complement our existing construction division to go alongside it to expand the business. It's always been a long-term plan of ours to diversify and we've wanted to do education for a while, we've just needed to find the right people."

In a typical week, Ivy Resource Group places hundreds of workers in a variety of roles. The company mainly covers Gloucestershire and the surrounding counties but does also operate nationwide.

Conor added: "We cover nationwide as a business, placing trades, labour, plant operatives and senior construction staff for temporary and permanent roles."

Rob said: "We focus heavily on the level of service we provide. We want good relationships with both the clients and the candidates. We want to make sure we know everything that's going on, how the workers are getting on, and that they are happy in their job.

"We've got a good spread of clients - SMEs and blue-chip companies - and are considered to be a partner with these companies. We understand what their requirements are and their expectations. Working hard to build relations, build rapport and give them a good level of service and as they grow hopefully we will grow with them."

For more information on Ivy Resource Group, call 01452 234012, email education@ivyresourcegroup.com  or visit www.ivyresourcegroup.com