Record number of recruitment start-ups launched last year, figures show

A record number of recruitment start-ups were launched in 2016, according to figures obtained by Clearly PR & Marketing Communications under a Freedom of Information request from executive agency Companies House.

According to the figures, 2016 saw a 13.7 per cent increase in the number of recruitment businesses, with 4,529 start-ups being registered between January and December.

Increase

The data also showed an increase in the number of recruitment start-ups between January and December in 2015 compared with 2014, with 3,984 agencies being registered, up from 3,037, whilst 4,193 start-ups were registered in 2013, an increase on 2012’s figure of 1,528.

The figures also showed how the build-up to the EU referendum in June affected the number of start-up recruitment agencies, with a lower number of agencies being registered in the first half of 2016.

Despite growth in recruitment agencies being lower in the first half of the year, the two months after the Brexit vote saw a surge in the number of newly registered agencies, with 1,051 businesses being set up. This represented 23 per cent of all new businesses that were registered in 2016.

The increase continued towards the end of the year, with over 1,300 businesses being created in December and November.

Strong

Clearly PR & Marketing Communications Managing Director Paul MacKenzie-Cummins commented on the figures, stating that it is a gross understatement to say that the recruitment industry is performing well.

He added: “Employer hiring and the UK economy both remain strong and this is reflected in the number of recruitment entrepreneurs wanting to capitalise on positive trading conditions and go it alone. This is clearly having an impact on the sector itself too.”