Recruiter ups international staff headcount by 25%

Published on 22/07/2012 00:00

A RECRUITMENT firm chaired by advertising industry veteran Jim Faulds has increased the headcount at its own international unit by 25 per cent after expanding its overseas business.

Glasgow-based Change Recruitment has taken on 12 workers to swell its foreign division to 59 staff.

The company now expects to grow its headcount by a further 10 per cent this year as it continues to bring in customers from Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Laura Drysdale, managing director of Change’s international business and one of four directors who led a £14 million management buyout (MBO) in 2006, is also expecting growth from Eastern Europe over the next two years.

“We’ve seen growth across a broad range of sectors, including accounting and finance and oil and gas,” said Drysdale. “We’ve placed people in jobs as far afield as Botswana, Kenya Shanghai and Singapore.”

Change – which counts Aegon, Standard Life and TNT among its clients – was founded in 1970 as Douglas Llambias Associates and expanded into international recruitment when Drysdale joined in 2003.

Instead of opening offices overseas, the company places job seekers with clients from its offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“Other companies will just use their Luxembourg office to place people in jobs in Luxembourg, or their German office to place people with German companies,” said Drysdale.

“We can place someone from Singapore into a job in Beijing without the hassle of having to deal with different offices. I think part of our appeal is that we can place people internationally.”

Change’s directors have brought in other investors – including Faulds, who became chairman last year – since completing the MBO, which was backed by NBGI Private Equity and Clydesdale Bank.

While the business is continuing to grow, Drysdale thinks Scots are now more reluctant to take jobs abroad.

“When we first started out, we were placing a lot of Scots in overseas work,” she said. “There’s less of that now. I think a lot of overseas companies were offering very high salaries in the past but now they’re having to be more realistic. There’s still a lot of demand for British workers abroad, though. Everybody wants to hire a Scot.”

Other Scottish recruitment agencies are also enjoying success overseas. Edinburgh-based Bright Purple Resourcing opened an office in Singapore last year and added a base in Lithuania this year.