James Caan, from Dragon's Den, has invested in a specialist CSO and healthcare recruiter, STAR, founded by Lucy O'Neill and Tim Webster.

Caan was reportedly not only impressed with the company O’Neill and Webster had built, but with the passion, energy and enthusiasm both showed for constantly improving its services.

He says, "Lucy and Tim epitomise everything that I look for when investing in people and their businesses. They are extremely focused and are constantly looking to the future to anticipate market changes and how this might affect what their clients need and want.

"They have already built a business with a highly reputable name in the healthcare industry and I look forward to helping STAR continue as a leading permanent recruiter while also accelerating the growth and scalability of their specialist CSO offering."

Caan was also attracted to the company's niche focus in one industry sector, arguing that this is a strong route to establishing a premium offering. The healthcare industry is one of his main areas for investment and he is also no stranger to recruitment having launched then sold headhunting group Alexander Mann with a turnover of £130m.

O'Neill and Webster are excited about Caan's role in helping to develop the business. "James has a tremendous ability to play to people’s strengths and we’re confident that having him on board will also help us to attract the very best people to work with and for STAR."

In line with STAR's want to fine tune its customer-focused approach, it has since commissioned market research consultancy Humanis to assess what services and approaches existing and potential clients – small and large – value most in outsourced teams.

STAR was founded in 2002 and, today, has one of the largest teams of healthcare recruiters in the UK. In 2007, it moved into the CSO arena resourcing and managing specialist contract sales teams for small, niche organisation through to global conglomerates.