UK Dragon Caan to invest in Ireland for EU recruitment hub
By Lynda Barnes
UK Dragon Caan to invest in Ireland for EU recruitment hub
Entrepreneur to put millions into Irish businesses to cash in on Brexit
Serial entrepreneur and former BBC Dragons' Den star James Caan is planning a series of investments in Irish recruitment firms to take advantage of what he believes will be a massive influx of post-Brexit jobs here.
Caan's latest company, Recruitment Entrepreneur (RE), which backs early to mid-stage firms, has just invested in specialist Dublin recruiter 360 Search and expects to invest in three more firms by the end of the year.
"We think, for us, Ireland will become the hub for Europe," Caan told the Sunday Independent in an interview.
"I'm seeing a huge amount of interest in financial services that have identified Ireland as a very exciting market prospective," he said. Caan said RE would invest several million euro in Ireland.
"As a business, we had identified Ireland in January and said if Brexit goes the way we think it is, we think growth opportunities are going to be quite attractive. I estimate the financial services alone will create between 10,000 to 20,000 jobs."
He said RE was in discussions with several companies.
"I'm extremely optimistic that we will probably back three further businesses in the market covering different specialisms of the economy because we recognise that to be able to take advantage of the growth of the Irish economy, you've got to be cross-section in terms of the services you provide. So, we're looking at the entrepreneurial market, the venture capital market, private equity and FMCG."
Lynda Barnes, managing director of 360 Search, which specialises in pensions and asset management, said that backing from RE would allow the company to hire senior new staff, establish a consultancy division and look at setting up operations in London and elsewhere.