High street recruitment agency Pertemps has launched a new division aimed purely at recruiting permanent staff.

Recruitment Moves, as the new brand is known, opened its first office in Leeds two weeks ago. Four others are set to follow over the next three months in Birmingham, Bristol, Warrington and Burton.

If these branches perform well, Pertemps is hoping to roll out Recruitment Moves nationally as a separate brand next year.

The new service would offer ‘premium’ facilities for both candidates and clients, explained Janet McGlaughlin, director of Recruitment Moves.

It would cover both industrial and commercial sectors, from entry level through to senior executives and would also offer additional services such as advanced candidate profiling, she said.

There is also a Recruitment Moves website, where candidates can download advice pamphlets and search for current vacancies.

Recruitment Moves will operate separately from the company’s 200-plus existing branches. Permanent consultants from these offices will be seconded to Recruitment Moves, and the firm will also be recruiting new staff.

The creation of Recruitment Moves represents a move away from the company’s traditional core market of temporary staffing.

Although Pertemps is involved in some permanent recruitment at present, it is only a relatively small part of its business.

“As business confidence grows, the permanent recruitment business is becoming increasingly important, so it makes a lot of sense for us to consolidate our existing expertise in that area,” said McGlaughlin.