I’ve been browsing the latest UK Recruitment Index from Deloitte and APSCo. The findings very much fit in with what we’ve been talking about at our Recruitment Directors Summit’s and from conversations I’ve had with one of our new partners Growth Street who offers business overdrafts within the recruitment sector. Financing the growth of an industry like recruitment – with its seasonal cycle – is key. Businesses need flexible finance which doesn’t get more expensive and draining as they grow.
For all the detail you should download the full report. However the overview includes:
• 69% of professional recruitment firms surveyed reported an increase in net fee income over the past year – echoing the positive trend seen last year.
• 30% of respondents who are currently based in the UK only plan to open more offices and half of these will be overseas.
• 50% of respondents who currently have an international presence plan to open more offices and the majority of these will be overseas.
• Around 40% of respondents indicated that they were actively thinking about M&A.
• Over half the recruiters surveyed stated challenges for the year ahead are growing headcount (59%) and achieving financial growth (52%).
• The “best in class metrics” are definitely worth a look at too.
In the Q&A session at our last Directors Event the challenge of growing headcount within their own firms was certainly raised by a number of people (we’ve covering that in July) and interesting in the post event feedback overseas expansion was highlighted as a “must discuss” topic. The issue of achieving financial growth was both discussed on the day and in post event feedback; particularly the concerns of transparency, flexibility in the amount of the load and the timescales the loan would cover.
I plan to speak with Growth Street again and do a follow up blog looking at what makes them different within the many offerings available to growing recruitment businesses.
