Value Enhancement Partners, together with management, takes over the shares of investor FIELDS Group, which has been actively involved in the company since 2018. Founders Gregor Popanda and Theo Peeters will remain involved in Upforce as co-shareholders.
The temp agency, known as Upforce since the beginning of 2023, was created from the merger of five local companies in the central/south of the Netherlands (including SEP Peeters, Uitzendbureau Verbeek & Direct People). The Dutch temporary employment agency supplies international workers with a focus on food production, logistical and technical jobs. The company has offices in Venlo (head office), Eindhoven, and Oudewater; in addition, the company also has a captive recruiting location in Poland.
Ellen Niessen (CEO): “In the past 2 years, we have professionalized the organization considerably after a period of rapid growth. We have now established a solid foundation on which we can build in the coming years. In Value Enhancement Partners we have found an enterprising partner who wants to support us in our further growth plans.”
Bjørn van Knippenberg (Partner at Value Enhancement Partners) adds: “We see that there is a strong demand for motivated international flex workers in many industries in the Netherlands and that Upforce is very successful in meeting this client demand. Additionally, Upforce is well-positioned to comply with the expectedly increasing regulatory pressure coming to the market. We are very excited to work with the Upforce team in the coming years and will support them in their growth strategy that will (amongst others) include doing further add-on acquisitions.”
