As Brexit and election uncertainty weighed on client and candidate confidence, recruiter Robert Walters (RWA) saw the slowdown in its domestic business accelerate in the fourth quarter with UK net fee income plummeting by more than a fifth to £20.7m.
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Operations at home now account for just 22 per cent of overall net fee income. But together with turbulence overseas, particularly unrest in Hong Kong, group net fee income growth turned negative in the three months to 31 December 2019, falling 7 per cent to £94.2m. Despite the tough last quarter, the group is guiding that full-year results will be in line with expectations, with overall net fee income up 2 per cent on 2018.
