Tributes have been paid to Jack Parkinson, executive chairman of recruitment company HR GO, who has died at the age of 77.

He passed away peacefully at home last week.

He had lived in Ashford - where HR GO is headquartered - for many years after moving from Leeds, near Maidstone.

The company was founded in 1957 by his mother Betty Parkinson and Jack joined the company in 1977 after an early career in refrigeration engineering - a job which had taken him to Southern Africa where he assisted in the cooling of gold mines.

His mother had opened the company's first office in Dartford, trading under the name Dartford Staff Employment Bureau, before rebranding as Parkinson Staff Bureau, later becoming known simply as PSB Recruitment.

A second office was opened in Chatham in 1968 and by 1980 it had 18 offices nationwide with a turnover in excess of £1million. Ten years later, turnover stood at £22m.

Instrumental in the company's growth, Jack pioneered a number of successful joint ventures - recruitment companies aimed at a host of different industrial sectors.

By the early 21st century, the company had rebranded as HR GO and after weathering the recession which started in 2007, Jack decided, in 2010, to retire and take on the role as non-executive chairman, moving to Gibraltar. Within five years he was back at the company as an active chairman.

A spokesman for the firm said: "Jack was instrumental in building the HR GO Group business through his entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering joint ventures, growing the team and brand nationwide and internationally. Every problem was an opportunity for Jack to grow and develop HR GO Group into the £176m turnover successful recruitment and e-commerce business it is today."

It currently employs 260 permanent staff and places up to 10,000 temporary staff in any week across a network of 26 offices nationwide. It also has operations in Poland and Sydney, Australia.

He is succeeded by his son and daughter, John and Sydney, who have been involved in the business over recent years.

They will be supported by fellow directors Roddy Barrow, group managing director, and Cindy Hare, managing director of recruitment.