Market reports, business information and market research from Midnight Croquet. Key Note Market Review Recruitment Agencies (permanent) .

About market research company Midnight Croquet and our market report services

Read about how Key Note create their market reports

KEY NOTE Market Review Recruitment Agencies (permanent): February 2004

CLICK

TO BUY

This report covers: recruitment agencies, permanent, salary levels, increased competition between companies, training, and, development, computing, drivers, education, financial, hotel, catering, nursing, medical, professional, managerial, technical, engineering, key, trade, associations, general recruitment, executive recruitment, e-mail applications, shortages of applicants,

Companies covered include: Adecco Holdings UK, Brook Street UK, Carlisle Group UK, Michael Page International, Pertemps, Recruitment Partnership, Extra Personnel, Human Resourcxe Group, PSD Group, S Three, TMP Worldwide, Whitehead Mann,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Key Note Market Report examines the permanent appointments sector of the recruitment market and covers firms that are engaged in both general and executive permanent appointments and executive search. According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the permanent staff recruitment market was worth £1.58bn in the year ending March 2003, a decrease of 4.8% on 2002. In terms of volume, the number of permanent staff placements made in the year ending March 2003 decreased by 0.3%, to 518,344.

The permanent recruitment market can be divided into a number of employment sectors: blue collar, computing/information technology (IT), drivers, education, financial, hotel/catering, nursing/medical, professional/managerial, secretarial/clerical and technical/engineering. In 2003, secretarial/clerical appointments represented around a third of the market, while financial and professional/managerial appointments each accounted for approximately 10%.

The majority of companies operating in the recruitment market are UK owned and major firms include: Adecco Holdings (UK) Ltd, Brook Street (UK) Ltd, Carlisle Group PLC, Extra Personnel Ltd, Human Resource Group PLC, Michael Page International PLC, Pertemps Recruitment Partnership Ltd, PSD Group PLC, S Three Ltd (which was called Solutions in Staffing and Software Ltd until 30th October 2003) and Whitehead Mann Ltd.

Since March 2001, the permanent recruitment market has declined in value. Some sectors, such as computing/IT and technical/engineering, have experienced a dramatic decline — which was due, in part, to the collapse of many dotcom companies in 2001 and 2002 — while others, such as blue collar, education and secretarial/clerical, have seen a resurgence in demand. Demand in the recruitment market fluctuates quite strongly from year to year, meaning that it is difficult for recruitment companies to predict what is going to happen. However, the majority of recruitment companies believe that, as a whole, the permanent recruitment market was weak in the first 3 to 4 months of 2003 and business volumes failed to rise until around September.

During 2003, a key trend was the growing difficulty for clients and recruitment companies to find the right staff, as a result of low unemployment levels. When the level of unemployment is low, the majority of skilled workers are in employment, meaning that the pool of skilled people looking for work is small. This observation has been confirmed by several sources, including the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Key Note forecasts that the permanent recruitment market's value will rise gradually between the end of 2003 and 2008. This forecast is based on the assumption that the UK economy will increase by around 2% to 2.5% in 2004, the US economy will begin to rise more rapidly and much of Continental Europe will be in recession for at least the first half of 2004. If Germany and France emerge from their recessions more quickly than anticipated, this might stimulate further growth in the UK.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

1. Market Definition

report coverage

MARKET SECTORS

MARKET TRENDS

An Improving Market

A Shortage of Good Candidates

Increased Competition Between Recruitment Companies

Salary Levels

Training and Development

The Growing Need for Recruitment Companies

ECONOMIC TRENDS

Population

Table 1: UK Resident Population Estimates by Sex (000 and %), Mid-Years 1998-2002

Gross Domestic Product

Table 2: UK Gross Domestic Product at Current and Constant 1995 Prices (£m), 1998-2002

Unemployment

Table 3: Actual Number of Unemployed Persons (million and %), 1998-2002

MARKET POSITION

The UK

Table 4: The Permanent Staff Recruitment Market Within the Overall Recruitment Market by Value of Invoiced Business (£bn and %), Years Ending June/July 1999-2003

2. Market Size

the TOTAL MARKET

By Value

Table 5: The Total UK Permanent Staff Recruitment Market by Turnover (£bn), Years Ending March 1999-2003

By Volume

Table 6: Number of Permanent Staff Placements, Years Ending March 1999-2003

by market sector

Blue Collar

Computing/IT

Drivers

Education

Financial

Hotel/Catering

Nursing/Medical

Professional/Managerial

Secretarial/Clerical

Technical/Engineering

3. Industry Background

RECENT HISTORY

NUMBER OF COMPANIES

Table 7: Number of UK VAT-Based Enterprises Engaged in the Recruitment Market by Turnover Sizeband (£000), 2000-2003

EMPLOYMENT

Table 8: Number of UK VAT-Based Local Units Engaged in the Recruitment Market by Employment Sizeband (number of employees), 2003

REGIONAL VARIATIONS in the marketplace

HOW ROBUST IS THE MARKET?

LEGISLATION

The Data Protection Act 2000

Discrimination Legislation

KEY TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation

Other Professional Bodies

Association of Executive Search Consultants

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

4. Competitor Analysis

THE MARKETPLACE

General Recruitment

Table 9: Leading Recruitment Companies Ranked by Estimated Number of Permanent Placements, 2003

Executive Recruitment

MARKET LEADERS

Table 10: Leading UK Recruitment Companies in the Permanent Recruitment Market by Total Turnover† and Pre-Tax Profit (£m), 2000/2001/2002

Adecco Holdings (UK) Ltd

Company Structure