The construction recruiters fined £39.27m by the OFT last September could be quizzed for bringing the industry into disrepute.

Tom Hadley, external relations director at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), told Recruiter that the firms, who were fined for operating a cartel, could be questioned by the REC.

Hadley told Recruiterthat the trade association’s professional standards committee would meet within a few weeks: “One of the issues likely to be discussed is whether the firms could have brought the recruitment industry into disrepute.”

The REC members named by the OFT were: Beresford Blake Thomas (£0), CDI AndersElite (£7.6m), Eden Brown (£1.07m), Fusion People (£125,021), Hays Specialist Recruitment (£30.4m), Henry Recruitment (£108,043) and Hill McGlynn & Associates (£0).

Beresford Blake Thomas and Hill McGlynn & Associates were granted immunity from fines in return for exposing the cartel.?

In December, Alistair Cox, Hays’ chief executive, told Recruiter that the company had already taken action to strengthen its internal emphasis on compliance and legal awareness.

The REC’s professional standards committee is made up of industry peers, the CBI and the TUC, and is chaired by Phil Westwood 

Hadley says the agencies concerned will have the option of attending the meeting. He says the committee will also ask the companies what they have done to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Hadley says this is important “because it reflects not just on those businesses but the industry as a whole”.

While the REC does not have the power to fine the companies concerned, Hadley says it does have the power to suspend members, or in exceptional circumstances to throw them out. He adds: “The facts are pretty much out there. We hope they will be clear about what they are going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”