Insider Media Limited

Staffline, the Nottingham-based recruitment firm has reported encouraging first half figures this morning, saying that the economic uncertainty is leading companies to rely more heavily on temporary labour.

Turnover for the six months to 30 June rose by an impressive 70 per cent from £49.1m to £83.4m, with profits up 50 per cent from £1.4m to £2.1m.

The figures come on the back of the acquisitions of Peter Rowley and The House of Logistics and a host of new business wins. Staffline says trading in the first few weeks of the second half of 2010 has “continued to be extremely strong” and the board now expects earnings for the full financial year to be significantly ahead of current expectations.

Andy Hogarth, chairman and chief executive, said: "The group has had a successful first half year with trading in line with management's earlier heightened expectations and we have benefitted from the impact of a number of new business wins, recent acquisitions and increased demand from existing clients.

"Overall we continue to be encouraged by the level of interest in our products and services from new clients and, whilst we expect the economic backdrop to remain tough in the markets where we operate, we remain confident that our model will allow us to operate profitably and continue to grow.

"We are in a strong financial position; net debt has continued to fall during 2010 and we expect to continue to generate significant cash from operations in the coming years. We continue to look for acquisition opportunities and look forward to the challenges ahead with optimism."