Investment in people is the key to improved margins in the IT and engineering sectors, industry insiders claim.

More focus on training, development and staff retention will help margin growth in the sector as recruiters look to reverse the slump of the early part of the decade.

A panel discussion on the subject of margins was held at the Association of Technology Staffing Companies’ monthly meeting in London last week. Russell Clements, chief executive of IT recruiter SThree, said his company now employed about 20 trainers to help develop staff. “What drives our margins is our ability to retain the best consultants,” he said.

The panel suggested that good consultants were not afraid to charge profitable margins because they knew the value of the service they provided.