There is no doubting that recruitment markets are tough at the moment, and the outlook is still far from certain, but Matchtech (MTEC) has delivered solid growth and a recovery in profits by focusing on a buoyant market for UK engineers. Tony Dyer, finance director, said a shortage of skilled engineers combined with strong worldwide demand for British brands such as Jaguar Land Rover were key to the company growing net fee income by 21 per cent to £36.1m in the last financial year.
Strong demand in the automotive sector was matched in aerospace as Airbus develops its A350 planes and Matchtech had a record 6,700 contractors on hire at the year-end. However, reflecting the uncertainty in the wider economy, companies are taking longer to make hiring decisions for permanent recruitment, which meant this segment accounts for a third of placements with contractors making up the majority.