Human Capital: Fortes Group’s investment in DMJ Recruitment Ltd 

Armstrong is pleased to have provided buy-side Commercial Due Diligence (CDD) for Fortes Group to support its investment in DMJ Recruitment (DMJ). DMJ plans to scale its core legal and company secretarial recruitment business while expanding into adjacent professional services, such as technology, accountancy, and finance. Fortes Group is backed by Omni Partners, the mid-market private equity house, and specialises in creating market-leading recruitment companies. 

Founded in 2007 by David Press and Marc Tobias, DMJ is one of the largest London-based independent staffing businesses placing legal professionals and company secretaries in private practice and in-house roles. Operating from offices in London and Dubai, DMJ has a portfolio of blue-chip clients including Aviva, Barclays, PwC, Santander, Vodafone, and Tesco, together with an impressive list of UK and US law firms. It was shortlisted for Recruitment Agency of the Year in the 2022 Recruiter Awards. 

Armstrong interviewed a range of DMJ’s clients and market experts to understand its client proposition and position in the wider competitive environment, which supported its deep knowledge and excellent delivery. Armstrong built a bottom-up market size for each of DMJ’s key legal in-house, private practice, and company secretarial markets, and used our extensive previous experience in these markets to analyse the key drivers of DMJ’s business plan, and tie them back to market dynamics. Our report also included key recommendations to inform DMJ’s future growth plan. 

Charles Gallagher-Powell, Partner at Omni Partners, said: “We were very pleased with Armstrong’s support on this transaction. They used their experience in the recruitment sector to help us understand what makes DMJ different and added to our confidence that DMJ is an exceptional business with real growth potential, and that it is a great platform for Fortes’ professional services offering.” 

Rupert Cookson, Senior Consultant at Armstrong, said: “DMJ is a great business, combining deep sector expertise with excellent client delivery. Clients highlighted long-term relationships with DMJ as a trusted partner and advisor. We look forward to seeing DMJ continue its success in partnership with the Fortes & Omni teams.”  

For more information or to find out Armstrong’s views on opportunities in the recruitment and the broader human capital management sector, please contact:  


Rupert Cookson, Senior Consultant

[email protected] 
+44 7983 110 150 

Email Rupert


Matt McNally, Director & Head of Human Capital Management 

[email protected]
+44 7894 736 523

Email Matt

Simon Hemsley, Partner & Head of Business Services 

[email protected]
+44 7957 340 534

Email Simon