SThree made 3,475 permanent placements in the six months to May, an increase of 32% on the same period a year earlier.

At 31 May 2006, the IT specialist recruiter had 4,335 active contractors, up from 3,777 a year earlier, an increase of 14.8%. Contractor gross profit per day rates showed “moderate growth”.

Russell Clements, chief executive, commented: 'The Group has continued to make good progress in the first half, against a background of healthy demand for specialist staff in the UK and Europe.

SThree will be announcing its interim results for the six months ended May 31 2006 on Monday 24 July.