With the REC revealing that it had made an operating loss of £587,000 at its AGM on 24 June, a memo to the organisation’s board by Peter Cullimore, and leaked to Recruiter, urged financial prudence and warned against a repeat of that deficit, calling 2009 “a disastrous year for the REC”.

Cullimore wrote that he “felt very guilty” that he had not been involved sufficiently to prevent the loss. He went on to suggest that the REC board should “plan for surpluses in the next 3 (sic) years to at least compensate for the 2009 loss”.

He also said: “I am not convinced that some of the staff responsible for both income and expenditure are able to forecast trends in sufficient time for action to be taken.”

Cullimore oulined his concerns against a backdrop of accounts which show that the trade body’s reserve has dropped from £1,091,717 in 2008 to £526,339 in 2009. But at the AGM, chief executive Kevin Green said he had no plans to replace the reserve.

You have to understand where these people are coming from. This is someone who has chosen not to be part of the REC’s future. They are just making a lot of noise. They are people with a personal axe to grind

TOM HADLEY, REC’S DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The REC’s director of external relations, Tom Hadley, hit back at Cullimore’s claims and played down the drop in the organisation’s reserve, saying that the body had enjoyed “a very healthy reserve for many years”, adding: “You have to understand where these people are coming from. This is someone who has chosen not to be part of the REC’s future. They are just making a lot of noise. They are people with a personal axe to grind.”

Recruiter has also learned that former commercial director Martin Noble has been appointed as part of a two-person team to “streamline” the organisation, a process it is thought will be complete by the end of the year.

There is no mention of Noble on the REC website.

The REC confirmed that Noble was being paid for the work, but refused to say how much. “I’m not going to go into people’s salaries,” said Hadley.
When asked for details regarding the reorganisation, Hadley said: “It’s an internal restructuring and the people who need to know about it, know. It’s about trying to do more with fewer people.

“It’s good to bring in external expertise, especially when you are managing a whole change programme.”

According to its website, the REC has six directors, the layer of staff to which Cullimore was apparently referring to as “top heavy”. Hadley would not reveal salaries, despite the fact that the body spent more on salaries and wages in 2009 than in 2008. Figures show the body spent £3,264,024 on its employment costs for its 75 staff in 2009 - the total cost of wages, salaries, pensions and social security - as against £3,168,062 in 2008, a difference of £95,962. This is despite having five fewer staff than in 2008.

Asked to explain the difference in wages, Fiona Coombe, the REC’s company secretary, said: “In 2009 the staff were awarded a 2% pay rise because of the surplus which had built up in 2008. There were increased termination costs and also, in 2008, we had no full chief executive.”

There had been a 5% rise in corporate memberships at the beginning of 2009, with a “slight” increase in individual subscriptions when the membership offering for individuals was relaunched in June last year as the Institute for Recruitment Professionals.

Hadley said the REC was “upbeat” about its situation. He said: “We take encouragement from the last year. We’ve had some massive lobbying wins, and we firmly believe we’ve been able to deliver a better level of service.”

When contacted by Recruiter to elaborate on the contents of the memo, Cullimore declined to comment.