I was surprised to read the letter damning managed services providers (Recruiter, 5 September) by Mark Gibbons of G&G Recruitment Services. Not due to the sentiment, as it's often a concern for suppliers who have had little experience of working with an MSP, but because of the argument. To claim that clients miss out on the best candidates because MSPs hold up the recruitment process is both incorrect and short-sighted. Today's MSP isn't just there to speed up the recruitment process (which they invariably do) but also to find the best candidates, which in this skills' short market requires immense creativity and resources.

The best candidates are often passive candidates and MSPs are experienced in pursuing innovative sourcing techniques to secure these. Sometimes these recruitment tools are joint ventures with recruitment firms; at others a more direct strategy encouraging candidates to apply direct to a firm. The reason clients outsource to MSPs is because they don't just deliver the best candidates within a fast timeline — they deliver the best candidates that no-one else knows about and often without the need for an agency fee.

Neither recruitment firms nor MSPs are perfect, but the leaders in both fields add a great deal of value. To offer a broadbrush argument against either is counter-productive to the recruitment industry as a whole. Both are here to stay and many work together to the benefit of all.

l Belinda Walmsley, Blomfield Group