Change Recruitment Group bucks recession trend with turnover up by more than 50%

Change Recruitment Group bucks recession trend with turnover up by more than 50%

Change Recruitment Group’s ambitious strategy to deliver strong growth in both domestic and international markets has paid dividends with the company seeing a 51% increase in annual turnover.

The company, which is Scotland’s largest independent financial services specialist and the UK’s leading international recruiter, saw turnover for the 2010/11 financial year reach £14.7 million – a marked increase on the 2009/10 turnover figure of £9.8 million.

Over the past year, fee income has risen by 51%, a trend that shows no sign of stopping. Fees from temporary recruitment are up 64%, while permanent recruitment has risen by 30%.

During the next financial year, Change intends to build on this success by investing heavily in new staff and training, with plans already in place to increase its 100 strong workforce by 30%.

Change’s recent success is down to the recruitment specialist making significant inroads into emerging foreign markets, as well as benefitting from Scotland’s reputation as a centre of excellence in the financial sector, which has allowed the company to successfully steer its way through the turmoil of the recession.

The group’s unique international recruitment model has enabled it to capitalise swiftly on buoyant recruitment activity in more challenging foreign markets.

Change has also utilised a recent uplift in domestic markets, with the company branching out into specialist IT recruitment within financial services, as well as re-establishing itself in the insurance market. Quality of service is also a priority with the company retaining fees across its temporary jobs sector - minimising margin erosion.

Suzanne Ramsay, Chief Executive, said: “By turning to more challenging emerging markets Change has managed to outperform on the 2009/10 financial year. We have expanded our international services considerably from our initial focus on accountancy recruitment to encompass financial services, HR, legal consultants and oil and gas, which is our fastest growing area having trebled in size since May 2010.

“During the recession we saw a shift in activity from our domestic to international operation, however both are now really taking off again and the financial sector is going from strength to strength, with companies looking to recruit the high-calibre candidates that we are ideally placed to deliver.”

Change Chief Financial Officer, Brian Robinson, added: “The impressive increase in turnover highlights how Change has countered the recession trend. And this market uplift has continued into May – the first month of our new financial year – with monthly fee performance the highest since 2008. Our International performance is also on the rise with fees in May this year 96 % higher than May 2010.

“However, we are not only leading the way in terms of figures. We are also investing heavily in training and staff engagement which has led to high staff retention levels.”