Recruitment agencies that supply to management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company Accenture could lose out to the company’s staff referral scheme, according to the firm’s recruitment director for the UK and Ireland.

Annabel Nichols told Recruiter that agencies were a “significant channel” for the firm, for example, where the in-house team had been unsuccessful, or for particular niche skills. “They deliver a brilliant service when we need them to,” added Nichols.

However, she said that the constant desire to streamline the company’s processes and to reduce cost put at risk the present levels of agency use, which she did not quantify.

There was a push within the company to increase staff referrals to 40% of hires globally, said Nichols. Referrals were low cost, and scored highly on the quality of staff recruited, whereas agencies were “very expensive”, said Nichols.

• See also Profile, pp22-24.