A Croydon recruiter says controversy over the rates paid to an Italian doctor he had placed has helped boost the number of visitors to his website by 50%.

Team24 was involved in controversy last month when it placed Italian doctor Annibale Bertollo in a GP practice in the Highlands for five days over Christmas. He was paid £3,200. The furore and coverage in the national press resulted in a subsequent booking for him in Hampshire being cancelled.

The client, a private firm operating a GP practice, cancelled just two days before Bertollo was due to come to the UK. He had already paid for his flight.

Robert Stiff, managing director and owner of Team24, told Recruiter: "We'll be paying for the flight. We've lost out and so has he. He was quite upset."

However, he said the number of hits on his website in the next week was 50% up on the normal level, resulting in more candidates registering.

Stiff, the brother of Ambition24 Hours' founder Penny Streeter, set up the company in July 2005. He had previously worked for his sister's company as sales director. Ambition24 now focuses more on operations in South Africa. Team24 specialises in placing GPs, but also nurses. Most are UK-based, with about five placings a month of overseas-based staff. He explained: "We advertise jobs on our websites. Overseas doctors can apply." But he stressed that overseas staff were not being paid any more than UK staff. The cost of flights had to come out of the standard fees they were being paid, he added.

He said the number of private companies now running GP practices was proving to be an opportunity for Team24, pointing to the number of adverts in health publications for surgeries being put out to tender.

He has a team of 12 and is looking to expand into other areas, such as veterinary practices and dentistry. He has so far eschewed the NHS Framework agreements. "There's lots of work, but no profit," he said.