Callagher, who took up his new post in January and is responsible for 3,600 staff including on-site personnel in 80 locations across the UK and Ireland, told Recruiter that Kelly would be moving into the search and selection arena, focusing on permanent fees of retained business on salaries between £30k and £70k for mid-management and niche-level positions.

Callagher says the new strategy will meanre-educating its staff and repositioning the brand looking at how it is perceived internally within the recruitment industry and externally by its customers. The firm plans to expand its professional and technical operations that supply IT professionals, scientists and teachers.

But the change in strategy does not mean Kelly will abandon its corporate client base, according to Callagher. “We are not moving away from corporate accounts but when you are just filling roles in corporate accounts, it is at invariably at a lower margin. We want to get the balance right of what is a corporate account and what is a retail commercial account.

“We are moving away from the high street to specialising in retail placements with a higher margin. We have done fantastically in filling our corporate orders. I have never experienced a better fill rate than at Kelly Services.”
See also Movers & Shakers