Swift Technical Services has been bought out by its management, backed by private equity firm Gresham.

Swift, headquartered in Enfield, Middlesex, provides labour to the oil industry worldwide, with a focus on the upstream. Clients include BP, ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil. This financial year, Swift expects operating profit of about £11m on turnover of £128m.

Gresham Invested £21m in the deal. Richard Mulcahy, managing director, led the MBO. He bought the company from Pat Swift, who changed its name from Jigsaw Recruitment after buying it in 1986.

Demand for oil and gas professionals is booming, with oil prices at more than $70 a barrel, compared with $20-25 just a few years ago.

Mulcahy told Recruiter: 'The oil and gas market is very buoyant. I've bought into this business because it has huge potential."

He said the deal would allow "us to continue our growth in the ever expanding energy staffing sector".

Meantime, IT recruiter Quantica has spent more than £600,000 acquiring a work-based training company providing National Vocational Qualifications.

Quantica is to buy Interactive Training Limited, which is privately owned and government funded. The total consideration is £409,859 in cash and £200,000 satisfied by the issue of 312,500 new ordinary shares in Quantica to the vendors.

In the year to March, ITM reported pre-tax profits of £161,573 on turnover of £1.091m. ITM operates out of three offices: Manchester, Chester and Birkenhead. It has 23 employees. Les Lawson, chairman and chief executive of Quantica said: "The acquisition builds upon our existing presence in the North West and fits well with Quantica Training's regional hub office in Manchester."

However, Quantica's interest in MSB International may be waning. On 31 March, MSB announced that it had received a takeover approach. It is widely known that Quantica was behind the move, though neither company has confirmed this. Sources say a rival bidder may now emerge for MSB.