IT recruiter InterQuest saw first-half profit and sales rise, thanks partly to acquisitions.

Sales rose £22.5m, up 79% on a year earlier. Pre-tax profit rose 47% to £807,000. It acquired PeopleCo Worldwide in February. In June, it acquired Sand Resources, but this came too late to have much impact on the results.

On 1 January, InterQuest had 362 contractors working for clients. This rose to 713 by the end of June, with organic growth accounting for 20% of the increase. The figure has subsequently risen to 760. The firm said margins were benefiting from the impact of wage inflation.

Chairman Gary Ashworth says: “Having been a publicly quoted company just 16 months we are beginning to earn the recognition of the market.”