The AIM-listed recruitment firm Hot Group has made two acquisitions in as many weeks – bringing the number of companies it has bought this year to five.

The company is paying £5.6m for the teacher recruitment agency International Teachers Network (ITN), which specialises in placing overseas teachers in UK schools.

It has also acquired online recruitment network Jobsin.co.uk, for £400,000. Hot Group claims this acquisition will put it in the top three largest suppliers of online recruitment services in the UK. It is currently fifth.

So far this year Hot Group has already bought online recruitment company PlanetRecruit for £3m, traditional recruiter Parkside for £5.5m and leisure and retail firm Buzz Recruitment for £400,000.

In September the firm issued shares worth £10.2m to help fund its acquisition trail. The funding to buy ITN and Jobsinco.uk came from a combination of monies left over from that share issue and bank debts, said chairman Tony Reeves.

He added: “We were looking for niche areas in traditional recruitment we felt had growth potential and dovetailed quite nicely with our online operations.

“We’re not buying companies for the sake of it – we’re buying quality companies that we hope will be earnings-rich and cash-generative for the company as a whole,” he said.