“Mobile-first” technology company mporium Group plc (AIM:MPM) is looking to ride two technological waves as it builds its growth strategy. Central to its proposition is the analysis of customer behaviour and contextual information, “unlocking the intelligence” to enable retailers to present timely, attractive and personalised offers over a customer’s smartphone – an ever-increasing influence over our everyday lives.

Throughout 2016, mporium has been developing its proprietary IMPACT and INSIGHTS products, launching IMPACT in mid-2016 for distribution through media agencies to on-line retailers. IMPACT provides an overlay to the digital advertising platforms of Facebook and Google which dominate this market area. The purpose of IMPACT is access these platforms and other real-time information sources to capture “micro-moments” when offers would prove particularly appealing – a far cry from earlier on-line marketing attempts (see Just what the country needs). The INSIGHT product sets out to provide smaller retailers with access to high-end analytics functionality. The market for mporium’s propositions is growing strongly as retailers strive for ever more effective digital advertising where global spend is estimated at c.$200bn (Source: eMarketeer).

However, it is still early days for this company that morphed out of ill-starred MoPowered. 2016 saw a rise in revenue to £1.8m and a small decline in pre-tax losses (to £4.8m). At year end, mporium had cash and near-cash balances of c.£2m and has since raised £3m via a placing. Momentum appears to be growing. A commercial agreement with WPP-owned digital agency, Essence, adds to a 2016 Q4 deal with Jellyfish (another digital agency) and more talks are ongoing. In 2017 management will be working hard to sign more agency deals and then looking further out for revenue (and profit) as usage grows.

Eventually tech was bound to come up with a resonse to the old, but impossible to answer question ‘Does my bum look big in this?’ (My advice, after  many decades of experience, is to NEVER answer this question if you want to preserve your marriage) Today Amazon has launched Echo Look which takes a full length, full body,  hands free, 360 degree video/photo selfie of you. Apparently, you use it to judge how you look in various outfits in various colours - but, more importantly, from every angle. Amazon has also launched some AI software called StyleCheck which gives you feedback on your outfit from fashion experts. I have to admit that I am probably NOT the target audience for this device as I think there are some angles which I would prefer not to see. But, I can see how some might.

You can link Echo Look to Alexa so you can say ‘Alexa take a video’  and then share the result on social media for others to give you instant feedback. The device is designed to sit in your bedroom and be ‘always on’. Sounds like a snoopers paradise to me!

Echo Look costs c$199 and is only available in the US for now.  

London-based Healthtech startup Babylon Health appears to be firmly establishing itself as the leader of the pack among self-service medical apps.

Earlier this year, Babylon was selected for a six month trial by the UK National Health Service for its often derided ‘111’ non-emergency helpline (see Calling Dr Bot - NHS 111 trials AI chatbot). And now, Babylon has raised a further £50m/$60m in a Series B funding round which, according to the FT, included Egyptian billionaire business family, the Sawiris, as new investors. TechCrunch further identified NNS holdings, Vostok New Ventures, and existing backers Kinnevik as participating in the round. Babylon had previously raised $25m in January last year (see Rivers of Babylon run deeper with $25m funding round).

Access to the ‘smarts’ in Babylon’s app is free and available globally, while access to ‘live’ GPs (UK and Ireland) start at £5 per month.

Babylon seems to be surging ahead of Manchester-based competitor Push Doctor, which as far as I can see has received no additional funding since the $8.2m raised also in January 2016 (see Push Doctor gets $8.2m health kicker). With another £50m in the piggybank, perhaps it’s now time for Babylon to go shopping.

You start to feel a little sorry for Capgemini’s UK business when you read through the Q1 results announcement and listen to this morning’s webcast. Since the acquisition of iGate (see Capgemini, iGate and “Parties A, B and C”), the region now contributes just 14% of Group revenues, less than each of North America, France and ‘Rest of Europe’. It is also, when it comes to the numbers, the region that continues to drag down the Group numbers. As a result, it gets little attention in the announcement and, much of what is going on under the covers, gets rather hidden.

In Q1, reported UK revenues were down 17.1% to €435m. The numbers were negatively impacted by currency movements; at constant currency, the decline was 7.6%. This was, as Capgemini highlights, a reflection of the anticipated decline in infrastructure services revenues due to the insourcing of some elements of the HMRC Aspire contract. We are told that the UK private sector business had a mid-single digit percentage growth, with financial services performing particularly strongly; what isn’t clear is how the public sector is performing outside the core Aspire contract. Previously that picture has been pretty positive.

The executive team also talks little about the digital undertakings with the HMRC Aspire contract, which, we understand, are leading the way in digital for the UK business, and hence providing a useful reference site. Although perhaps they are steering clear of talking about it until things become a little clearer on the Making Tax Digital programme. This week, Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, has proposed scrapping many of the clauses in the Finance (No2) Bill, in the hope that the legislation can be passed before Parliament is dissolved next week (just one more impact of Brexit and the snap General Election). Many of those clauses relate to controversial elements of Making Tax Digital. In the private sector in the quarter, Capgemini highlights a cloud native application development contract with a car rental company.

At Group level, revenue growth was 2.6% at constant Group scope and exchange rates, to €3,171m. Financial services and manufacturing, which account for nearly half of Group revenues, reported growth of close to 10%. ‘Digital and cloud’ grew 24% y-on-y accounting for 32% of the total. The strongest service line growth came from consulting services (at 10.6%), which represents just 4% of revenues, reflecting digital transformation consulting demand, and highlighting the stage in many client’s journeys.

AIM-listed recruitment software specialist Dillistone Groupconfirmed 2016 to have been a solid year. Revenue was up 6% to £10m despite weaker sales in the UK and the devaluation of the pound following the Brexit vote estimated to have stymied growth by around 3%.

Adjusted operating profit grew 3% to £1.5m but the London-headquartered firm saw post-tax profits fall 44% to £526k from £1.2m in FY16 after acquisition-related costs and a one-off amortisation adjustment totalling around £1m were factored in (earnings per share also fell 2% yoy to 7.10p).

Despite reduced demand in its home market (72% of Dillistone’s customers are UK-based) and negative currency fluctuations the company is doing a good job of growing its core revenue base. A strong H2 helped Dillistone’s Systems division sign around 100 new clients with a total contract value over £1m during the year, increasing its yoy turnover 5% to £4.9m. The Voyager Software division too saw an 18% increase in new business wins following the launch of its ISV Online platform and a suite of mobile apps, with revenue up 6% to £5m.

Uncertainty over the impact of Brexit on the UK economy doesn't appear to be denting Dillistone's confidence. The company remains bullish for 2017 and expects to continue the growth in its long-term recurring revenue (up 7% to £7m in FY16).

We expect that its performance could also get something of a boost from the EU’s forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR - compliance with which becomes mandatory for companies operating in the EU in May 2018). The new legislation lays down strict rules on how companies store, process and manage EU citizen’s personal data and many recruitment firms (including those in the UK) may have to upgrade current systems to comply.

There’s not long to go before applications close for the inaugural TechMarketView Great British Scaleup Event, to be held in London on 27-28 June 2017 … and there’s even more reason to apply!

Earlier this week we announced that managed cloud and infrastructure services firm Cogeco Peer 1 has become the exclusive Enterprise Cloud & Infrastructure Services Technology Partner for the programme. Cogeco Peer 1 will offer all applicants to the inaugural Great British Scaleup Event an initial infrastructure assessment at no charge, giving them access to solution engineers and network architects able to advise on the mix of technology that is a best fit for them today and will also allow them to scale rapidly in the future.

They join our founding Advisory Sponsor, ScaleUp Group, whose team of successful tech entrepreneurs and seasoned executives have been responsible for company exits valued at over £4b.

If you run a fast growing, privately held, UK-owned tech SME and feel that you are ready, willing and able to make a step-change in growth, the TechMarketView Great British Scaleup programme aims to help you connect with external finance to accelerate your scale-up journey.

Successful applicants will be invited to participate in a half-day, closed-door session to discuss their business plans and prospects in confidence with TechMarketView and ScaleUp Group. Selected qualifying companies will then have the option for further mentoring by ScaleUp Group to help prepare for potential external investment.

Companies participating in the TechMarketView Great British Scaleup programme will also enjoy invaluable exposure in TechMarketView UKHotViews, widely acknowledged as the most influential daily commentary on the UK tech scene, as well as coverage in selected TechMarketView research.

Applications for the inaugural Great British Scaleup event close on Friday 5th May and can be submitted via the web-based Pre-Qualification Form. Successful applicants will be notified by 26 May.

There is no charge to apply or participate in this event, so don’t miss this chance to be one of the first TechMarketView Great British Scaleups!

Further information can be found in the Great British Scaleup page on our website or by contacting us at gbs@techmarketview.com

TechMarketView is delighted once again to be both a Sponsor of/and Judge in The Enterprise Awards 2017 (in association with WCIT). This year’s event is even bigger and grander and takes place at the Dorchester on 14 June 2017. 

Over 300 leaders in UK tech have already booked a place in the audience at the Awards ceremony - for full details and to book a table yourself CLICK HERE.

But what we really want you to do is consider entering for an Enterprise Award. Unlike TechMarketView’s Little British Battlers or Great British Scaleups, the Enterprise Awards are for individuals not companies. So, if you are already an LBB or budding GBS, why not enter yourself, or your CEO/founder, for an Enterprise Award? Indeed, many already have - and won - in the past.

Our dear friend, John O’Connell, established these ‘Oscars for UK Tech Entrepreneurs’ some seven years ago. TechMarketView – together with such notables as Sage, Smith & Williamson, Natwest, Silverpeak, R and D Tax, Questers and ScaleUp Group – are sponsors. And this year’s chosen charity is Sherry Coutu’s Founders4Schools. TechmarketView will be there on 14 June 17. We’d love to see you there too.The Award categories are as follows:

·      Young Entrepreneur 

·      Evergreen Entrepreneur - for founders who started their business aged 50 or over

·      Emerging Entrepreneur – up to £1 million annual revenue

·      Developing Entrepreneur – annual revenue between £1 and £5 million

·      Scaling Up Award – fastest growing companies

·      Enterprise Entrepreneur – annual revenue over £10 million

·      Social Enterprise Entrepreneur - for entrepreneurs with a business model that gives something back

·      Public Sector Award - excellence and achievement in the public sector

·      Female Entrepreneur - for outstanding female entrepreneurs

·      Mentor of the Year

·      and the Judges Special Award.

Entries must be received by next Friday, 5 May. Entry forms can be downloaded from Enterprise Awards 2017 Entry Formor contact Sarah Robinson at tx2 Events - sarah.robinson@tx2events.com or 020 31372541. Good luck!

I’m delighted to see that London-based (but mainly Israeli managed) HRtech startup Hibob has dropped the pseudo-cool "HR management software to sort your people stuff" tagline from its branding (see HR startup Hibob enrols $7.5m seed funding) and now plays to the more corporate ‘Shaping the future of HR’. Shame they kept the naff name though, but what can you do.

Anyway, just under a year later, Hibob has raised a further $17.5m in a Series A funding round led by US VC Battery Ventures, along with Arbor Ventures, and Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures, and existing backer Bessemer Venture Partners.

Part of Hibob’s ‘USP’ is its focus on pension management, particularly in the light of the UK government’s mandated workplace pension scheme now being rolled out. Just a month ago Hibob announced an arrangement with UK insurer Aviva to link into its workplace pension system.

Of course, Hibob is hardly the only HRtech game in town. Perhaps more visible in the UK market is Fairsail, which was acquired last month by UK-based SME business software giant, Sage (see All Hail Adam Hale as Sage acquires Fairsail). Perhaps if Sage is in the mood for a little more shopping …

Our recent research, The Little British Battler 100 report - The LBB100, surveyed 100 innovative UK tech SMEs who have taken part in the TechMarketView Little British Battler (LBB) Programme. The report answers some of the burning questions about the LBBs, as they seek the next stage in their growth.

Our research shows that strategic partnership arrangements with larger SITS players are hugely important to LBBs for gaining access to enhanced scale, capability and customer reach. UK SITS market leader Capita stands out as the biggest partner to the LBBs but many other strategic service provider partners are listed within the research as can be seen in our summary chart. Our report also explores the leading strategic LBB partners in the software space as well as in cloud & hosting.

Partnering with LBBs is also becoming increasingly important to the large SITS providers to drive innovation in deals, differentiate and seek out potential acquisition opportunities.

Keen to read more? Existing research clients can access the full analysis here.  If you are not an existing client but would like order a copy of the report please contact Deb Seth in our Client Services Team or download the LBB100 Report abstract for full details.

PROACTIS, the Wetherby-based provider of spend control and e-procurement solutions, has posted its interim H1 results (six months ending 31 January 2017).

It continues to bring new customers into the business, securing 27 new name deals (H1 FY16: 23), with more than 80% of those being multi-year SaaS or managed service contracts. Its decision to focus on improving opportunities with existing customers also appears to be paying off, picking up 59 deals (H1 FY16: 45) and increasing annualised contracted revenue to £22.9m (H1 FY16: £17.6m).

Revenue was at £11.8m, up 36% on this point last year (H1 FY16: £8.7m). Underlying revenue growth (excluding the benefit of acquisitions) was 13.4% (H1 FY16: 3.6%). PROACTIS has benefited from the contributions of Due North (see Access Intelligence shifts sourcing assets to PROACTIS) and Millstream (see PROACTIS adding Millstream to its list of acquisitions) in this period, neither of which were included in its H1 FY16 numbers.

The company has invested heavily in account management and tapping into opportunities in its existing customers' supply chain during the period, which has had an impact on profitabillty. Operating profit margin fell to 8.1% from 11.3% in H1 FY16. Operating profit of £954k was flat compared to this point last year (H1 FY16: £974k), but EBITDA improved slightly to £3.0m (H1 FY16: 2.4m). 

PROACTIS is growing well, both organically and by acquisition, but it needs to keep an eye on its profit margin. It has made five acquisitions since 2014 and is committed to making further deals. The business continues to deliver against each of the key stands of its growth strategy and we expect to see this trend continue in H2. 

Analytics-as-a-service minnow Rosslyn Data Technologies (Rosslyn), is making its first acquisition since floating on AIM last year. Having seen revenues fall 8.5% in FY16 as partnerships take longer to monetise (see here), it’s definitely time to pursue the inorganic route.

Rosslyn is acquiring Portsmouth-based Integritie, an unstructured data content management player specialising in IBM Filenet technology for up to £3.35m. This includes an initial consideration of £2.6m, plus an earn out of up to £750k based on revenue targets. Rosslyn is also planning to raise up to £4.5m to fund the deal and provide working capital.

Integritie should enable Rosslyn to expand its current addressable market beyond its core in structured data analysis for spend analytics.

In addition to its core knowledge capture solutions, Integritie provides a content analytics and sentiment management engine to capture and analyse inbound communications, as well as a social media, email, SMS, image and digital information capture and control solution. Customers include the likes of O2, Cumberland Building Society, RAC, Aviva and Iron Mountain.

Most digital data is unstructured, and so Integritie should present higher growth potential for Rosslyn. Rosslyn aims to drive out cost savings of £800k within the first year, and expects there to be further savings from platform and development costs. Let’s hope the enlarged group can then begin firing on more cylinders.

Specsavers has signed an £18m deal with Fujitsu as part of a major internal programme to reduce the number of technology platforms and suppliers it uses. We understand that up to nine suppliers were bidding on the contract but it was Fujitsu’s combination of retail experience and global footprint that enabled it to win out in the end.

The two companies have worked together for some time, but CIO Phil Pavitt has been undertaking a major activity to streamline Specsavers’ use of infrastructure and related services in order to provide the appropriate platform for the firm’s digital agenda. For example, a new global platform run by Fujitsu will replace various other IT support contracts/activities delivered by numerous suppliers. Indeed, the number of technology suppliers Specsavers is using is reducing from 40 to just three or four in the retail end of the business.

Fujitsu will also be helping Specsavers move to new technologies in-store (it has over 1200 shops across Europe) to enhance both the customer and employee experience. The company is just at the start of its journey and expects to deliver many more digital-led improvements in the coming few years. Indeed, Pavitt tells us that its streamlined team of core suppliers has been selected based on what they can deliver now but also for the other services and technologies they can enable Specsavers to tap into going forward. We immediately thought of Fujitsu’s Internet of Things capabilities, which could help Specsavers improve supply chain performance, for example.

Specsavers was founded 33 years ago making it a relatively young organisation. As such, Pavitt believes all of its systems could be moved to an entirely cloud hosted environment within a three-year period (Microsoft Azure currently accounts for around two-thirds of its cloud usage). However, he won’t be around to oversee that as Pavitt is in fact leaving Specsavers in a couple of months now the new strategy and supplier ecosystem is in place.

Just when you think you should be administering the Last Rites, the patient starts breathing again.

Twitter surprised the market by announcing it had gained 9m new users (to 328m) in the last quarter- rather more than the 2m the market was expecting. The new video streaming service reported a 31% increase to 45m users. However revenues fell 8% to $548m yoy and a loss of $62m was recorded - albeit less than the $167m loss last quarter. This was probably due to the 9% cut in the employee count.

Twitter shares are up 11% as I write.

My rather pessimistic views on Twitter are, however, unchanged. I’ve never been a real fan although we use Twitter a lot at TechMarketView - but not as a research tool/more as a communications channel to our clients and followers. We pay Twitter nothing and neither do our readers (I suspect). However I organise my Twitter feeds they are always overrun with dross. But clearly other (President Trump for example) swear by Twitter. Although whether that is an incentive for me to get to grips with Twitter is a moot point. 

Vipera, the AIM-listed provider of mobile financial services and digital customer engagement software, is continuing to see good growth, albeit from a low base, but losses continue to widen, setting back recent progress (see Vipera showing progress at half year).

Revenues for the year ended 31 December, were up 16% to €7.9m, however pre-tax losses widened to -€1.5m from -€646k last time, primarily due to restructuring at its digital consultancy division Codd & Date. Excluding restructuring, losses were still 9% wider yoy.

Vipera offers a proprietary bank grade platform Motif, which is used in over 1 million apps for banks and retailers enabling mobile banking, mobile payments and mobile marketing. But this is a highly competitive market dominated by bigger names, with much bigger wallets. Nonetheless, Vipera is well-placed as a niche provider, targeting emerging sectors such as the Middle East, where it works with Mashreq bank, and via partnerships such as payments provider EquensWorldline and Serco’s Experience Labs.

Looking ahead to the current year, there should be continued healthy growth as Vipera benefits from an enlarged partner network and ‘substantial additional new business’. There’s also the prospect of the forthcoming Payment Services Directive 2 (PDS2), which should create opportunities to offer product and services to both banks and the anticipated new service providers (see Open Banking and PSD2).

UK tech stocks got off to a steady start to the year with the notable exception of the telecoms sector. The clear leader was the FTSE Hardware index, up 14.8% in Q1, driven by Spirent which gained 21% in the quarter. This also helped the FTSE Technology Index gain 3.1% qoq.

However, the FTSE SCS index, a proxy for UK listed software and IT services (SITS) companies only managed a gain of 1.8%, trailing the broader market as represented by the FTSE 100 which gained 2.5% qoq. The FTSE Fixed Line index was again the worst performer, down 12.1%, undoubtedly influenced by further uncertainty over BT’s prospects, after the agreement to spin out Openreach  and further speculation on the future of BT Global Services. The FTSE Mobile index performed better with Vodafone and Inmarsat posting Q1 gains of 4.1% and 13% respectively to lift the index by 4.7%.

Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service can download the latest edition of IndustryViews Quoted Sectorto see our latest analysis of how the stock performance of UK software and IT services companies listed on the London Stock Exchange compares with their international peers.

Alphabet (or still Google to the rest of us) had a stonking Q1 with revenues up 22% at $24.8b yoy. Mobile search was again the star contributor. Profits were up 29% from $4.2b to $5.43b. This was all better than expected and Alphabet shares were up nearly 5% in after-hours trading. That’s on top of a 20%+ rise in their shares in the last year.

Alphabet added around 10,000 employees yoy to 74K with the biggest increase in those engaged in cloud.  Indeed the biggest increase in Capex was in cloud. UK revenues were up 5% at $2b. The pesky £ was blamed – the UK would have been up 16% on fixed FX

‘Other bets’ achieved revenues of $244m compared to $165m a year back. But losses actually increased to $855m. Big investments here are now away from Fiber towards data centres in a move to challenge AWS.

On the conference call, Alphabet made a big emphasis on its AI developments and machine learning. Eg the launch of a parking assistant on Google Maps. Youtube is rocking with over a billion hours of Youtube videos now watched everyday. It really doesn’t look as if all the bad press about advertisers deserting Youtube because their ads were appearing against inappropriate content, has had too much of a negative impact…yet. The boycott really occurred after quarter end so we will have to wait until the Q2 results.

Google, of course, still has its challenges. It has no social network offering of note and has really left Facebook to clean up here. Few of its hardware initiatives have worked. Losses at Other bets continue to soar. Apple is still the hardware company to beat. It is playing catch up to Amazon on cloud and data centers. Even on AI we hear many times more about Amazon’s Alexa than Google’s equivalent.

But any ‘Big Numbers’ company that can continue to grow at 22% deserves praise.

Fidessa, the global provider of high-performance trading, investment management and information solutions, provided a relatively upbeat assessment of the state of demand across the world’s financial markets as it delivered an interim management statement for the first four months of 2017.

Heightened uncertainty, driven by Brexit, the new US administration and the round of elections across Europe is lengthening the sales cycle, but the company still considers that it can generate constant currency revenue growth of c.4%, the level it achieved in 2016.

Underpinning this confidence are the inescapable fundamentals of financial markets trading; companies are desperate to reduce costs, comply with higher levels of regulatory oversight and meet the demand for increasingly sophisticated trading instruments and trading techniques. Fidessa’s portfolio of service-based solutions and its broadening asset class coverage should thus prove increasingly attractive to market participants. TechMarketView subscribers can catch up on our latest views on Fidessa in our recent UKHotViewsExtra.

The international spread of the business, with Sterling-based contracts driving only 30% of revenue, will provide an additional boost to reported figures if Brexit, a major source of uncertainty and risk, causes further Sterling weakness. Our latest report on the wider implications of Brexit is available here.

The challenge of integrating customer interactions, particularly across mobile devices, continues to attract enterprise budgets, something the year end trading update from IMImobile illustrates. However, the level of performance shows that the company, who describes itself as a cloud communications and solutions provider, is not just bobbing up in a rising market but is actively creating opportunities.

Performance for the year to March 31 2017 is expected to be slightly ahead of market expectations on an organic basis for all regions and business units, resulting in revenue and gross profit increases of 23% and 18% respectively. This compares to organic growth of 11% in the previous FY (see here). The company has also achieved good cash conversion, ending the year with £14.7m gross cash.

It has been an action packed year with customer wins, renewals and upsells demonstrating both a sticky offering and land and expand opportunities. The company also clinched a global framework agreement with mobile operator Telenor Group. There was progress too, on the important and developing partner strategy including its first partner win with BT Group. In addition, it expanded its footprint with Archer in South Africa and addressed the banking sector with the recent (March 2017) UK Infracast acquisition. Although there is work to be done to integrate the acquisitions they are broadening IMImobile’s foundations and Infracast in particular will be important in strengthening its position in the financial services sector, which now represents a significant proportion of business. It was a positive year for IMImobile and one that puts it in a strong position at the start of the new FY, during which we hope to hear of further developments on the partnership front in particular.

Really interesting to read the report from the Publishers Association which stated that printed book sales rose by 7% in 2016 but sales of ebooks fell by 3%. Children’s books were cited as one of the major reasons with parents preferring their kids to read ‘proper’ books rather than on their tablets.

I was thinking of this in connection with the possible ban by the US on taking any tablets, laptops and ebook readers on any flights to the US - echoing the current ban on flights from several Middle Eastern countries.  eBooks really come into their own on long flights. But the thought of taking any kids on almost any flight without the distraction of tablets and eReaders fills even me with dread. Maybe that will provide yet another boost to paper books? I can see queues at the airport bookshops as parents stock up with books to entertain the kids on that long flight to Orlando to visit Disneyworld.

Belying the sentiment in the headline, there are reasons to be cheerful about the prospects for UK-headquartered international recruitment firm Harvey Nash. In particular, cash generation has improved significantly, so investors will benefit from an increase in the div. And in order to ‘demonstrate solidarity’ with its pay-constrained employees, CEO Albert Ellis has taken the unilateral decision to waive all executive bonuses. Some CEOs do indeed walk the walk.

That aside, the numbers, as always, do the talking. Headline revenues for the year to 31st Jan. 2017 rose by 16% to £784m, with gross profit up 8 % to £98m, trimming gross margins by 80bps to 12.5%, but a better result than mooted in last month’s trading update. However, operating profit was a different story, down 12% to £9.2m, trimming 30 bps off the margin to 1.2%.

Harvey Nash’s UK & Ireland business held its own, with gross profit flat at £37m, in line with (quarterly) performance at peer PageGroup but trailing that of Robert Walters. The UK recruitment market remains very much like the ‘curate’s egg’.

Ellis has also made the decision to downgrade Harvey Nash’s London Main Market listing to AIM, in order to ‘provide an environment more suited to the Group’s current size and strategic intent to enhance shareholder value by organic growth and acquisitive activity (note!)’. Fair enough.

Ellis has been doing the right thing getting rid of the ‘unnecessaries’ though as far as I can see, Harvey Nash still runs an IT outsourcing operation in Vietnam, which frankly doesn’t belong and never really did.