Such marketplaces give employers the chance to post a job vacancy and specify a fee they are prepared to pay recruiters registered on the database. The latest of these, Gatszu.com, is targeting around 2,000 of the top HR directors in the UK through its partnership with the Sunday Times HR Business Network.

The latter’s criteria means it only accepts senior HR professionals from firms with more than 500 employers and an annual turnover in excess of £50m, which means some highly influential people could be active in the marketplace.

Gatszu.com marketing director Simon Swan told Recruiter: “Through our partnership, all the network’s members will be automatically registered on gatszu.com. All they’ll have to do is agree to the terms and conditions and start posting their vacancies. This will happen over the next four weeks, as we meet with members and demonstrate the service.”

Gatszu.com takes from a 20% cut of the employer’s fee. The site was attracting 400-800 visitors a day shortly after launch and founder and managing director Stuart Murray said that more than 300 recruiters registered in the first week.

He believes Gatszu.com will level the playing field within the recruitment industry by enabling smaller agencies who offer a high level of service to compete with bigger ones. There have been active jobs on the site since launch week but Gatszu.com warns recruiters to expect “a trickle” until momentum builds as more employers register.

Business consulting and technology services firm Concentra was one of the first to register and post a vacancy.

Claire Ward, head of HR, believes the online marketplace will help her company streamline its recruitment processes. “By reducing the time spent managing multiple suppliers and fending-off cold-calling, employers will have greater ownership when selecting agencies, and will benefit from having extra time to spend on more value-adding parts of their role,” she says.

“In addition, it allows budget holders to manage their costs better thanks to gatszu.com’s fixed fee business model. This could also help them reduce their overall recruitment spend. In this economic climate, every penny spent is scrutinised.”

Through an agreement with Direct Law for Personnel Professionals, Gatszu.com members are being offered access to a free employment law telephone advice service.

Other online marketplaces include TalentPuzzle in the UK and BountyJobs and RecruitHire in the US. In November last year, RecruitHire chief executive Alain Templeman told Recruiter that the UK and Canada are “priorities” for expansion.

www.gatszu.com.