STAF Staffline Group Plc

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU NO. 596/2014) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("MAR").

10 June 2024 

Staffline Group plc

("Staffline" or the "Company")

Launch of Share Buy-back

Staffline Group plc, the recruitment and training group, today announces it intends to commence a share buyback programme to purchase ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the Company (the "Ordinary Shares") for up to a maximum aggregate consideration of £2.5m from the day of this announcement (the "Buyback"). The Ordinary Shares purchased pursuant to the Buyback will be cancelled.

The Group remains disciplined in its allocation of capital with the main objective being to enhance shareholder value.  We continuously assess our medium-term plans which take account of growth prospects, investment in the business, cash generation, net borrowings, and leverage.  Therefore, the amount allocated to buybacks is based on our predicted trading cash flows and financing headroom.

The Buyback will be operated in accordance with the terms of the Company's general authority to repurchase Ordinary Shares granted by shareholders at its annual general meeting (the "AGM"), held on 22 May 2024.

In accordance with the authority granted at the AGM, a) the aggregate number of Ordinary Shares to be repurchased will not exceed 22,378,643, b) the minimum price which may be paid for each Ordinary Share will be £0.10, and c) the maximum price (excluding expenses) which may be paid for each Ordinary Share will be the higher of: (i) an amount equal to 105 per cent of the average of the middle market quotations for the Ordinary Shares as derived from the AIM Appendix of the Daily Official List of London Stock Exchange plc for the five business days immediately preceding the day on which the purchase is made; and (ii) an amount equal to the higher of the price of the last independent trade of an Ordinary Share and the highest current independent bid for an Ordinary Share on the trading venue where the purchase is carried out.

Shareholders should be aware that a purchase of Ordinary Shares by the Company on any trading day may represent a significant proportion of the daily trading volume in the Ordinary Shares and could exceed 25 per cent. of the average daily trading volume of the preceding 20 business days. Should that be the case, the Company could exceed the pricing and/or volume restrictions as established by the Commission Delegated Regulation 2016/1052/EU (as in force in the UK and as amended by the FCA's Technical Standards (Market Abuse Regulation) (EU Exit) Instrument 2019) (the "Regulation") and therefore the Buyback may not fall within the safe harbour provisions of the Regulation.

As part of the Buyback, Liberum has been appointed to purchase the Ordinary Shares as principal.

For further information please contact:

Market Abuse Regulation:

For the purposes of MAR, Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055 and the UK version of such implementing regulation, the person responsible for arranging for the release of this Announcement on behalf of the Company is Daniel Quint, Chief Financial Officer.

About Staffline - Recruitment, Training and Support

Enabling the Future of Work™

Staffline is the UK's market leading Recruitment and Training group. It has three divisions:

Recruitment GB

The Recruitment GB business is a leading provider of flexible blue-collar workers, supplying c.30,000 staff per day on average from around 400 sites, across a wide range of industries including supermarkets, drinks, driving, food processing, logistics and manufacturing.

Recruitment Ireland 

The Recruitment Ireland business is a leading end to end solutions provider operating across multiple industries, ten branch locations and ten onsite customer locations, supplying c.4,500 staff per day on average, and offering RPO, MSP, temporary and permanent solutions across public and private sectors throughout the island of Ireland.

PeoplePlus Division

The PeoplePlus business is a leading provider of employability, adult training, prison education and skills-based programmes across the country to those who are disadvantaged in society. In addition, it delivers Community Service support as well as social value services and expertise to employers.