The new chief executive of Crystal UK expects the company’s operation throughout Europe to be ‘a billion-euro business’ by 2009.

Graeme Maude (pictured), who succeeded Ted Kimura last month, outlined a bold acquisitive strategy for the company, which has been operating in the UK for just 14 months.

Maude, who is now leading the firm’s PA/secretarial and administrative recruiter Crone Corkill and finance recruiter FSS, sees more expansion into the professional market in continental Europe.

“We want to be a billion-euro[£686.7m] business by 2009. At the moment, we’re at £200m-250m, so we have a long way to go,” Maude told Recruiter.

Maude revealed that Crystal is looking at further expansion into France, Germany and Italy specifically.

“We are looking in particular at the engineering, technology, accountancy and IT markets,” he said.

He also said that Crystal will avoid blue-collar recruitment, as that part of the market is covered extensively by Adecco and Manpower in Europe.

“Adecco and Manpower have been doing it for so long,” said Maude. “The cost to compete with these types of businesses would be very difficult. If you look in France, engineering is dominated by Adecco.”

Maude also has high hopes for the next generation of Crystal consultants. The firm has set up three academies for consultants new to the recruitment world (Recruiter, 13 July), and the first 16 consultants are coming through the system, with a further nine going through the academy.

“It’s not just about processing a CV. It’s about your culture and values,” said Maude.