Healthcare recruitment firm Nurse Plus aims to expand to the northern parts of England after forecasting a 37% growth in turnover to £35.2m.

The Canterbury-based company reported turnover of £25.7m to March 2013, up from £18.9m in 2012 and putting it on track for its best year to date.

Owned by private equity company Key Capital Partners (KCP), the firm’s strong year-on-year growth is attributed to the growing demand for skilled labour in the healthcare sector.

Established in 2005, Nurse Plus employs 160 full time employees and operates across 32 sites in the UK, including Ashford, Folkestone and Maidstone.

Managing director Heath Blake said: “The growth of the company has accelerated with the support of KCP and they’ve provided us with the necessary funds and resources to expand our operations across the UK.

“Traditionally we have provided our staff to all healthcare sectors, but we’ve seen a growing demand from the private homecare market, including the provision of complex healthcare support to an increasing number of service users in their own home. which has shaped the direction of our business.”

In 2012, it received £6.5m from KCP, and is now is looking to expand its operations further into the northern parts of England, with Birmingham, Worcester, Liverpool, Nottingham and Leeds all named as key destinations.

Investment partner Mike Fell at KCP said: “We are delighted with the transformation of Nurse Plus over the last couple of years.

“The growing number of private providers in the healthcare sector handed a huge opportunity to the management team, as the demand for quality services continues to rise on a national scale.

“It is an exciting time for the business as it looks to target new territories across the UK in the coming years.”

Nurse Plus was ranked as the sixth best healthcare recruitment business in The Recruiter’s Fast 50, which looks at the UK’s fastest growing recruitment businesses according to annual sales growth.