• Abacus Employment Services, a recruitment agency in the South of England, has acquired Dovetail Human Resources, a Newbury-based recruitment company. The “strategic” merger will enhance Abacus’ capabilities and expand its services, offering a recruitment solution to clients and candidates across different sectors. With the merger, both jobseekers and employers can expect minimal disruption and business as usual, according to a company statement.

• Hays Specialist Recruitment has signed a 10-year lease with the RO Group at the group’s One Dorset Street property in Southampton. Hays identified the property as its preferred long-term re-location option in the city to best serve its practical needs, as well as conforming with their wider ESG policies. The property benefits from a number of carbon reduction measures, including EV charging points, a new VRF air conditioning system, regular reviews of on-site energy use through the CUBE competition and a 2-star Fitwel rating.

• Recruitment and talent acquisition firm Paiger has acquired recruitment marketing network The Lonely Marketers. Paiger will continue to use this community to announce product updates and ask for its help in beta testing new features.

• Cannock-based recruitment business Right Staff, which specialises in providing temporary staff to the industrial, transport and logistics sectors, has secured a tailored invoice finance facility from Optimum Finance. Invoice finance is a method of cashflow funding that uses receivables (invoices) as the principal asset against which money can be raised. Optimum Finance pays Right Staff an agreed percentage of the invoice value as soon as it is submitted, driving access to liquidity at the point of invoice as opposed to needing to wait.