Recruitment giant sees a mixed picture

Recruitment firm Hays yesterday said cutbacks in bank and City hiring were hitting its business despite an improved trend for UK revenues.

The UK arm saw net fees fall 4 per cent in the three months to the end of September, against a 6 per cent decline in the previous three months, though this was comfortably offset by strong growth in Asia, Europe and the rest of the world.

Total fees across the group rose by 15 per cent on a like-for-like basis and by an actual 21 per cent as 19 countries registered growth of 20 per cent or more.

UK and Ireland saw private sector contracts slow with the difficult environment in banking and the City hitting finance-related fees, though IT, energy and sales and marketing sectors performed well.

Private sector revenues, which account for four-fifths of fees in the UK and Ireland, still rose by 2 per cent, but this compares with 7 per cent growth in the previous three months and 18 per cent in the quarter previous to that.

There was a 24 per cent slump in public sector fees as government cutbacks continued to have an impact.

The number of recruitment consultants in the UK and Ireland fell by 7 per cent on last year, though the overall headcount rose by 6 per cent due to investment in Asia, continental Europe and South America.

Shares rose by 7 per cent following the update, which analysts said was better than expected.