Overseas growth is boosting Hat Pin, while Healthcare Locums (HCL) points to the increasing number of staff it is recruiting from abroad to work in the NHS.

HCL saw turnover more than triple to £43.9m in 2005 after an acquisition spree that has continued this year (Recruiter, 22 March).

Chairman Ian Rosenblatt said HCL was operating in an “increasingly regulated” NHS market, and recognised “that this market had proved difficult for smaller companies lacking the infrastructure to meet the needs of NHS contracts”. HCL said it had capitalised on this opportunity and gained market share.

About 40% of locum staff are now coming from outside the UK, and Eastern Europe is a rapidly growing source of staff for HCL.

The firm has developed a network of international recruitment agents across the world and this has led it to identify staff shortages in other countries. “This represents a new business opportunity for HCL that we intend to pursue this year,” said chief executive Kate Bleasdale.

The company's pre-tax loss widened to £1.4m, from £0.1m. The results were affected by one-off charges, such as the expense of office closures after the acquisition of RS Locums.

Meanwhile, Hat Pin, owner of media and communications recruitment firm Kendall Tarrant, said it had enjoyed another year of growth in 2005, and 2006 had started well.

Turnover rose to £5.12m, from £4.2m. Pre-tax profit rose to £786,000, from £522,000.

Kendall's UK and Europe business generated turnover of £3.1m. The firm has invested in hiring new consultants for three new practice areas: corporate marketing, corporate affairs and public relations and media.

In the Americas, its sales rose 60% to £1.3m. It said salary inflation in marketing in the digital sector in this area was “extreme” due to a dearth of talent.

“Increasingly, marketers are searching for experienced practitioners from non-agency environments such as Yahoo and Viacom,” said chief executive Angela Campbell-Noë (pictured).

Recent acquisitions came too late to affect the results. In December, Hat Pin acquired 70% of executive search firm Saxton Bampfylde Hever.