The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has appointed of Gary Irvine as the new chairman of its board.

Irvine, who has had a long association with the REC and its forerunner FRES, succeeds Richard Barfield as chairman and will be leading a 19 strong board.

He is the managing partner of the Diamond Recruitment Group, (DRG), one of the largest locally owned agencies in Northern Ireland.

Irvine says: “I am very much looking forward to being chairman of the board at a very exciting time for the REC. Our new-look board comprising 19 members represents every sector of our dynamic and fast-moving industry throughout the UK and I welcome the challenge of managing them in order to achieve the very best for the REC.