Permanent staff demand profits Harvey Nash

CIOs are looking for permanent staff and it's pushing up the profits of recruitment specialists like Harvey Nash, which reported strong growth and profits in 2007 Thursday. The global company, which provides executive search, outsourcing and recruitment services saw revenues rise by 27 percent in the year to 31 January 2008.

Harvey Nash saw its revenues in the UK and Ireland increase by 15 percent, driven its says, from organizations demanding an increased staff count for IT roles. The trend continues across the channel with Belgium, Germany and Switzerland all showing a trend towards increased permanent staff.

Harvey Nash has also seen increasing business coming to its executive search service, which sources CIOs and other high level management for organizations. The media and technology sectors have placed the highest demand on the executive search service in the UK and it reports high demand across Europe.

Harvey Nash reports high candidate confidence and demand coming from across the UK, not just London and the South East. Markets looking for staff include banking, insurance, gas, media, oil and telecommunications.

"Harvey Nash is still enjoying the double benefit of strong demand for permanent staff placements in parallel with a growing demand for its offshore services," said Kate Hanaghan, an analyst with market watchers Ovum.

Harvey Nash reported revenues of £318.6 million (US$627.2 million) for the year ending January 31, 2008, and net income of £58.5m, an increase of 21 percent. Operating profit was up by 26 percent to £8.5m, with cash generation up by 209 percent.

"The current year has started well with robust trading in the first two months. Overall, our business in the US, UK, and Europe are ahead of budget and the previous year," Albert Ellis, CEO of Harvey Nash said in announcing the results. Cross-selling and boardroom relationships are attributed with being the basis of the results. "The cross-selling of other services represents over 20 percent of total revenue," it states. Hanaghan concurs, describing the strategy as "doing a good job". Harvey Nash has also developed a close relationship with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).