Recruiter February 2015

Recruiter FAST 50 2015

New dawn for UK recruiters It appears that in 2014 the UK economy really turned a corner, although as the year progressed this may have slowed a little as the uncertainty of an election year dawns. This was certainly our experience at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, as in our 20-year history of helping new starts and established recruitment companies accelerate their growth through innovative cost-effective funding, 2014 was a record year for growth within the industry. At the same time we see a few commercial issues facing our recruitment business clients, which we believe are likely to also be affecting other recruitment companies. For instance, clients are taking far longer to pay bills, resulting in cash flow issues. Anyone experiencing difficulty in this area must ensure that these issues donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t become a restraining factor in the growth of their businesses. We also note that in this fiercely competitive sector, where price is important, innovation and service are expected to move ever more into focus. Differentiation through innovative solutions is the key to profitable growth. For recruitment businesses, client retention is always important. But in this year it will be the key to accelerated growth, especially with the potential challenges an election year brings. Recruiters may also find that as the UK economy flourishes, finding great candidates to maintain growth could be harder if the economy growth slows. And also, the unpredictable business market makes workforce planning more necessary but also more difficult. Data-driven workforce planning will be key. We look forward to working with even more recruitment companies in 2015. And we are very proud to sponsor the Recruiter FAST 50. Congratulations to all those listed in the FAST 50, and we wish you all a very prosperous 2015, with continued success and growth. John Atkinson Head of commercial business Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance