Irish recruitment firm Grafton’s central and eastern European (CEE) business contributed to increases in the company’s revenue and profit during 2004.

Grafton’s offices in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania contributed £10m to the firm’s total annual revenue of £35.4m. Profits in the region surged by 169% to £1.3m.

The company has operated in the region for more than 10 years, but opened new offices there over the past 18 months in preparation for the entry of eight eastern European states to the EU last May.

Niall Keyes, regional manager for Grafton’s CEE business, attributed the firm’s strong performance in the new EU states to its early mover advantage: “Lots of firms were conservative and didn’t want to invest in these countries until the ink was dry on the accession, but we were already here,” he said.