Tim Gilbert, managing director-UK for marketing recruiter EMR, has left the company after 111/2 years.

Gilbert told Recruiter that he was taking time off to consider new opportunities after a whirlwind year in which he led a major internal change programme.

The programme, which was completed last July, involved a restructure, rebranding and development and implementation of a new commission model. EMR also invested in a year-long leadership development programme through Lander Associates.

“The key challenge from July was to try to keep business in the market,” Gilbert said. In the last half of 2008, the portion of EMR’s work derived from temporary business increased from 10% to 30%.

Last year also saw EMR’s purchase by multi-sector recruiter the FiveTen Group and a move from its London Knightsbridge office to High Holborn. “We moved from Louis Vuitton to Ryman the stationer,” Gilbert joked.

Gilbert left EMR through a negotiated exit at the end of 2008. “I felt like it was time to hand the baton to other people,” he said.