IT recruiters should act as "agents of choice" rather than simply being responsible for placing candidates, according to one firm.

Mike Clark, director of newly-established Oxfordshire-based Whitehall Consultants, believes contractors should be able to trust their agency to find them work on a consistent basis and "not worry where the next job is coming from".

Clark, who worked at SThree for nearly 10 years, has moved to the public sector change-management specialist in order to head up his own division.

Whitehall is an offshoot of Proactive HR, set up 18 months ago by Marcus Glover and Rob Bascombe, also former SThree employees.

Clark told Recruiter that government efficiency targets had meant there was more need for change-management specialists, such as programme managers, particularly in local councils and the NHS.