The results, published today, reveal revenue of £642.4m up from £617.6m in 2016, with net fee income of £74.7m, up from £73m last year.

UK engineering and technology NFI was down 3% and 6% respectively on the previous year, while international NFI was also down 4%. The group added the integration of 2015 acquisition Networkers International is now complete.

Commenting on the results, Gattaca CEO Brian Wilkinson pointed to a “challenging year” but one in which the group had made significant progress in many areas of the business, adding he was confident of further improvement in 2018.

“Overall we believe our UK business performed slightly better than the market and we managed operational costs well. During the year, we rolled-out Matchtech’s long-established strategy to Networkers. This strategy of operating in specialist markets and nurturing deep and enduring client relationships, supported by strong centralised marketing and business development programmes, continues to deliver high productivity by our consultants and a leading conversion ratio (adjusted operating profit to net fees). 

“Our Gattaca Solutions offering is gaining traction with a number of contract extensions and upgrades last year and an exciting pipeline of opportunities for 2018. Whilst this roll-out led to increased group support costs during the year, these investments will deliver returns in 2018 and beyond.”

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