As major employers decide to cut out the middle man and take the direct approach to recruiting staff, there's a rumble of discontent in the recruitment sector.

It seems that some larger companies are cottoning on to the fact that they can seemingly advertise direct on internet job sites and bypass expensive agency fees – and agencies are understandably feeling somewhat threatened.

Take, for example, the massive construction industry. Pell Frischmann, a firm of Consulting Engineers with over 900 employees, pride themselves on being one of the most innovative UK firms in their field. They, too, recently stated they wanted less reliance on recruitment agencies due to high costs.

So is this the beginning of the end of the road for recruitment consultants? Not necessarily, according to Jim Roach (FREC), a veteran of 15 years' agency experience and recent founder of a ground-breaking new initiative, ARV Solutions. He sees this emerging trend as a major opportunity, not a threat.

ARV Solutions specialise in providing complete recruitment solutions – far more than just agency services – so Jim was convinced he could help steer Pell Frischmann in the right direction. He proposed to manage their recruitment advertising campaign in a way that would add real value and get high quality results – without high recruitment fees.

Irene Wright, HR Co-ordinator at Pell Frischmann, comments: "ARV Solutions' proposal was very compelling and we were impressed by both their originality and their understanding of our requirements. We are already receiving high quality candidate CVs and we expect to fill a number of positions soon – ARV Solutions have delivered some excellent candidates at a fraction of the usual cost. Now what business could turn down an opportunity like that? We will continue to use his services, without a doubt."

Jim explains ARV Solutions' unique approach: "Online recruitment is here to stay, and can be extremely effective as a recruitment tool. As with all tools, however, they are only as successful as the person wielding them!

"At ARV online recruitment advertising is one of our key specialities, so we are welcoming this new era and we are working in unison with our clients to achieve their aims.

"It's understandable that some employers will try to cut costs and have a go themselves – but if it was really that simple, everyone would be doing it. Without specialist knowledge of where and how to place online recruitment advertising it is likely to be a costly failure. It stands to reason that the experts in online recruitment advertising – are recruiters.

"There is still plenty of room – and demand – for the professional recruitment agency role. We provide that as another key service, with very high success rates – still very much utilising the web to source candidates and passing on the cost savings this affords us. Fortunately for us, many agencies are too busy trying to develop new sales techniques rather than seeing the opportunities and considering the changing market around them."

So is this the beginning of the end of the road for recruitment agencies? For some, probably yes. But for innovators like ARV Solutions, the future looks bright.

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