Marketing aficionados THE DRUM has reported two separate closures of Northern recruitment firms within the last month as Britain's "double-dip" recession continues to hurt the industry.

Heart and Soul of Chester and An Agency Called England in Leeds are both in the icy grip of liquidators - with Heart and Soul already in trouble, their Yorkshire counterparts could yet meet the same fate within days.

The potential liquidation of the An Agency Called England follows a turbulent few years for the agency, with the agency restructuring amidst legal tussles and the closure of its offices in Birmingham and Kent last year.

It comes as little surprise that recruiters are struggling as businesses become more and more cautious about hiring new employees. With tighter budgets for wages and a larger demographic of people available, businesses need their recruiters to work harder than ever when selecting new candidates.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that job vacancies were down 3.9 per cent on an annual basis in the three months through to March, a slightly slower decline than the 4.1 per cent fall in the three months before February.
A recent report by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) containing information from 400 employment consultancies showed that permanent staff placements in April did increase, but the rate of growth was the slowest since January. The investigation also highlighted that salaries for permanent jobs are generally frozen – with 83 per cent unchanged since the previous month.

Chief executive of REC, Kevin Green, said: “This month’s figures show growth in permanent jobs but at the slowest level since January.”
However, it’s not all bad news.
“Employer and consumer confidence are increasing and we anticipate more private sector jobs being created in the second half of the year.”
Job board Reed.co.uk’s figures for the month of April show a fall in job opportunities during compared to March, though demand remains seven per cent up on the same month in 2011.

“Overall demand for staff slipped back in April, with a six percent fall across the UK compared to March 2012. Engineering, Transport & Logistics and IT are the leading annual growth sectors for employer demand, but sectors Banking, Health and Medicine and Media, Digital & Creative report the biggest annual falls.”

Messrs.’ Cameron and Osborne remain committed to Britain’s austerity measures in the face of the growing Eurozone crisis, though many grumbling voices of dissent are gaining support – particularly in the wake of Francois Hollande’s victory for spending in the recent French presidency elections. It seems British firms have more tricky waters to navigate yet.