UR TV CAST

Institutional investors hold around 85 per cent of its shares and their power will have increased following their take-up in the share placings which accompanied the ILO acquisition. The shares have had a healthy run in the past 18 months, although they are below the peak hit in the group’s early days on AIM. The operating structure was streamlined from 35 companies to the three divisions.As it has grown, Supporta has accumulated strong City support. It described itself as a seed-corn vehicle for new recruitment businesses. But this policy was abandoned under Holt’s leadership and the drive into the public sector launched.

It is an area well suited for the experienced Jasper.The reshaping was quickly accomplished Four recruitment operations were sold and two closed. The private sector share is 62 per cent and growing at 11 per cent.The group has two other promising divisions. One provides payroll and support services, mainly to the health service; the other offers property design, planning and project management to the public sector.Supporta, then called Staffing Ventures, arrived on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) five years ago. Last month it paid £4.9m (with £2m more depending on profits) for a business called Independent Living Organisation. It offers home and live-in care for 22 local authorities and has an order book of £16m.

Pre-tax profits hit £750,000 last year.ILO will be lumped in with Supporta’s care division, lifting the hours of home care it provides to above 30,000 a week. Still highly fragmented, the market is worth some £2bn a year and swelling at a rate of 6 per cent. Whereas Holt, once the chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur FC, is still at the forefront of Mears, he has taken a back seat at Supporta where John Jasper, a former Capita man, is in charge. He replaced Holt, now in a non-executive role, as chairman in August, 2004. And Supporta, unlike Mears, has emerged as a nimble footed acquirer.

It has already put through a string of deals and more takeovers are expected.It is a company in a hurry. One is Supporta, a group carving out an intriguing niche supplying a range of white-collar services to local authorities and other public bodies In some ways it is very similar to Mears. It, too, services local authorities, although its core operation is blue-collar housing maintenance.Even so, there are significant differences. Its shares have failed to cover themselves in glory and are in the red. Still, fearing an embarrassing repeat performance, I am hanging on – at least for now.Holt, however, has not confined his endeavours to only two stock-market companies He has other interests. Nevertheless my decision not to stick with Mears must be classified as an almighty clanger – one that cost the portfolio dear.
Since sacrificing Mears, which has just rolled out an encouraging trading statement, I alighted upon another Holt venture – Wyatt, a little online risk consultancy. I am indebted to Bob Holt, a no-nonsense entrepreneur.