Today sees the announcement that the UK economy was in growth over the three months to September – but this nationwide 1% growth was bettered by both recruitment group Randstad and Dublin-headquartered Cpl Resources.

Randstad saw operating expenses increase by 8% to €637.8m (£519m), which cancelled out 4% year-on-year rises in revenue and gross profit – €4.4bn and €799.2m respectively. Earning before interest, tax and amortisation thus dropped 8% to €161.4m.

In the company’s financial report, chief executive Ben Noteboom said that its “performance in North America and Japan was again solid but European conditions softened further".

Revenues at Cpl totalled €290.2m, up 23.3% on 2011, with gross profit rising by 17.5% to €43.5m and operating profit by 39.3% to €10m.

All Cpl growth has been achieved organically, the company reports in its Annual Report, with 18.8% growth in permanent placement gross profit, slightly above the 17.2% figure seen on the temporary side.