An employment law, HR, and health and safety specialist has announced the acquisition of Wirehouse Employer Services.

WorkNest, a division of The GRC Group, is the company acquiring Wirehouse.

Wirehouse is known for providing retained HR, employment law, and health and safety consulting and advice services to SMEs.

This acquisition will extend WorkNest’s national client base and deepen its team of specialists and qualified consultants.

Based in St James' Court in Wilderspool, Wirehouse was founded in 2010 and offers services closely matched to WorkNest's HR and health and safety solutions.

These include advice line access, assistance with HR policy drafting, employee handbooks and contracts, and specialist advice for resolving HR issues.

Ifti Ahmed, chief executive officer at WorkNest, said: "We pride ourselves on working closely with employers nationwide to provide high-quality, pragmatic, and professional advice and support.

"This acquisition enhances WorkNest’s scale in our core SME market and plays to our strength of integrating complementary businesses in our field.

"I’m very pleased to welcome our new colleagues who share the same commitment to delivering fantastic client service.

"Wirehouse’s long track record of profitable growth is a testament to its leadership over 14 years, which has built a strong and trusted reputation in our sector."

Wirehouse will continue to deliver a high-quality and responsive service for its clients, who will continue to have access to the same Wirehouse team.

Sue Malley, managing director at Wirehouse, said: "We're extremely excited to join up with the WorkNest team.

"Given the compatibility of the businesses, we can see the opportunity to enhance our offer and deliver significant benefits to our valued clients.

"With the expanded scale and range of services provided by the wider group, we look forward to an exciting period of strategic development and growth for our business."

Ms Malley added: "Our service commitment will remain as strong as ever as we enter this new chapter.

"We plan to update our clients about new technology and an expanded range of compliance and risk services in the coming year."

The deal marks the third acquisition for The GRC Group this year and the first acquisition in the employment law, HR, and health and safety space this year.

It follows the group’s acquisitions of cyber security businesses Bulletproof Cyber, in May, and Pentest People, last month.

The GRC Group leads the field in providing tech-enabled services and software for compliance and risk management, offering an extensive range of solutions, including compliance eLearning, HR and employment law, ISO certification, health and safety, enterprise risk, regulatory intelligence, cyber security, and more.