Workplace health specialist RehabWorks, which is based in Bury St Edmunds, is set to become a UK market leader following a major acquisition.

Archimed SAS, the health-focused private equity fund which has owned RehabWorks since 2015, has now completed the acquisition of the London-based Crystal Palace Physio Group.

The combined businesses will have a staff 334, located at a total of 20 sites around the UK.

RehabWorks already has centres in Bury St Edmunds, Manchester, Fareham, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Glasgow, Rotherham and Swindon, providing both preventative and treatment programmes for musculoskeletal and mental health issues.

Crystal Palace Physio Group has a network of 12 sites in London and the South East, providing musculoskeletal services to both the corporate and NHS markets.

Derrick Farrell, chief executive of RehabWorks, will head the combined entity which will continue to operate under the RehabWorks name.

He said: “We are very pleased to be announcing the coming together of RehabWorks and Crystal Palace Physio Group.

“This is an important step in our ongoing journey of respected healthcare provision, and in pushing the business towards becoming the leading UK provider of musculoskeletal and mental health solutions.”

Mr Farrell said the expertise and experience within the Crystal Palace Physio Group would be “invaluable for the intentions of the combined business”.

He added: “The NHS represents a growing opportunity for our chosen disciplines, and the ability to set up an owned network to support our growing corporate proposition will become more important over the coming years.

“Merging our businesses will be done in a careful and considered way to ensure our staff and customers benefit from the emerging operating model.”

Stuart Paterson, the current managing director and owner of Crystal Palace Physio Group, will remain with the combined business, joining the board with immediate effect.

Mr Paterson said: “Joining the business clearly represents an exciting opportunity to create a national brand across target markets.

“The culture and brand of Crystal Palace Physio Group has always been important to us and, in RehabWorks, we believe we have found a partner that is very much aligned with our vision.

“The combined size of the organisation, along with the backing of Archimed will continue to ensure the long-term success of the business.”

The history of RehabWorks goes back to the formation of Bury Physio in 1987. RehabWorks was incorporated in 2003 with RehabWorks Psychological Therapy Service being launched alongside the physiotherapy business in 2009, enabling the company to offer solutions relating to each of the two main causes of absence from work in the UK.

The addition of Crystal Palace Physio Group represents further expansion following the acquisition in 2015 of Right CoreCare, a leading UK provider of employee assistance programmes.