SThree on the up and up and over!

Overseas, that is! It’s only been a few weeks since ITSA (IT staff agency)-cum-international recruitment firm, SThree, reported it’s FY results (see SThree still seeking the new normal). But the messages in its Q1 trading update (to end-Feb) are uniformly positive, notably so outside of the UK. Group gross profit is up 19% to £42m, but of this, non-UK GP rose by 24%, twice the rate of UK GP. As a result, non-UK GP now represents 63% of the total (FY10: 60%). This is a phenomenon other recruitment players are seeing too, most recently Robert Walters (see Robert Walters profits in Asia/Pacific) and clearly points the direction UK recruitment firms need to be travelling – quite literally!