Hays and CDI Corp, the parent company of AndersElite, have issued statements in response to yesterday’s fines by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Six recruitment firms were fined £39.27m by the OFT for price-fixing and the collective boycott of another company in supplying candidates to the construction industry.

Hays says it has co-operated fully with the OFT in its investigation under the leniency regime and has been fined £30.36m. This decision represents the outcome of previously reported proceedings which began in June 2006.

Alistair Cox, chief executive of Hays, says: “We take the findings of the OFT investigation seriously. However, it is important to recognise that the OFT’s investigation related to an isolated matter arising from the conduct of a single employee who is no longer with the company and affected only a small part of our UK construction and property business. At all times Hays has independently determined the price and terms on which it has dealt with its customers and at

no stage did the matters investigated by the OFT affect Hays’ dealings with its clients.

“Since the start of the investigation in 2006, Hays has co-operated fully with the OFT in all aspects of its investigation. The board has taken appropriate steps to strengthen group compliance and training in this area and has developed and implemented a detailed training programme for all key employees which is repeated at regular

intervals. Hays believes that the level of the fine is wholly disproportionate with the activities to which it relates, Hays’ involvement in those activities and the way in which the OFT has dealt with other cases in the past. The group is actively considering an appeal.”

The CDI statement said: “In its decision, the OFT states that it has made a finding that Anders did violate the UK competition Act of 1998 and imposes a fine of £7.6m (approximately $12.2m) for the violations. CDI will be analysing the specifics of the decision and will be evaluating its options, including a possible appeal.

“Since becoming aware of these alleged violations, CDI has increased its focus on its Compliance Program throughout all business units to ensure that ethical business practices remain at the core of all company conduct.”