The Osborne Clarke/Recruiter Q3 2011 ‘M&A in the Recruitment Sector’ survey is launched this week.

The forward-looking survey is designed to assess how mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are viewed within the recruitment sector over the next three months.

Kevin Barrow, a partner at Osborne Clarke, says: “M&A activity has continued in 2011, particularly by listed companies and private equity companies, but there is now some talk of concerns – justified or not – about the impact of AWR (Agency Workers Regulations) and public sector cuts on certain sub-sectors of recruitment.

“It will be interesting to see if these concerns are widespread. It will also be interesting to see to what extent the values of particular types of recruitment company may be affected by the apparent increasing involvement of LinkedIn in recruitment.”

DeeDee Doke, editor of Recruiter, added: “With the economy still in a volatile state, the anticipated impact of the AWR is just one issue with which recruiters, and potential buyers and sellers, must wrestle as the autumn approaches.

“M&As contemplated now must be considered for their long-term strategic value; few businesses will be likely to make snap decisions on what looks like a ‘good buy’ at the time. The results of this survey could offer the most profound insights of any of our recent surveys to date, and we urge all of our agency readers to participate.”

To offer your opinion, please go here for survey