A recruitment agency for the education sector has been taken over by a London Stock Exchange-listed company for an initial sum of £1.2 million.

Classic Education, based in High Street, Gravesend, has been acquired by Servoca, a recruiter for a variety of industries with revenues of £34.4 million in the six months to April.

The value of the deal may increase by up to £1.9 million, depending on whether the Kent firm meets profit targets over the next two years.

The agency was founded in 2005 by Mandy Day and Sue Flesher and made pre-tax profits of just under £600,000 in its latest annual results, with assets of £400,000.

Servoca, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), believes Classic Education can sustain gross profit at about half a million pounds and allows it to grow into an area where it does not have a local presence.

It will bolt on the firm to its existing education recruitment business and means it now has 15 offices across the UK.

Servoca chief executive Andy Church said: “This acquisition complements our existing branch network in education and gives us a local presence in the Kent and south London market, an area with significant demand for education recruitment services.

“We look forward to working with the staff and management that have helped build the business into one of the leading providers in the area.”