Huntswood search and selection changes name to Woodhurst

Huntswood Search & Selection, the UKís leading recruitment firm specialising in the consultancy market, has changed its name to Woodhurst. The name change comes at a time of significant growth for the business and reflects its separation from Huntswood Outsourcing, its former sister company, which provides outsourcing and risk management to financial services firms.

In the quarter to March 2004, Woodhurstís revenue doubled versus the previous quarter, reflecting the revival of the demand for management consultancy services, driven by the strengthening economic climate. The UK consultancy industry is expected to grow at c. 4% this year (source: IMC Annual Conference 2004).

Keith Mackenzie, Head of Operations of Woodhurstís search and selection division, commented:
Our vacancy pipeline indicates further significant growth in the management consultancy market for at least the rest of the year. This is a major opportunity to accelerate our businessís already extremely healthy growth and we didnít want it to be affected by any residual confusion between Huntswood Search & Selection and Huntswood Outsourcing. We are aiming at least to double Woodhurstís revenues by the end of 2004 and will be recruiting more experienced consultants to work closely with clients in meeting their growing recruitment needs.

The choice of the name Woodhurst reflects the firmís continued focus on its traditional market, consultancy recruitment. It is the former trading name of a Huntswood recruitment business that specialised in that sector.

With a database of over 49,000 management consultants, Woodhurst has worked with the vast majority of consultants operating in the UK. As the dominant force in consultancy recruitment, the company is ideally placed to gauge the confidence of consulting firms and, by extension, of business in general. On this basis, Keith Mackenzie has total faith in achieving the firmís aggressive expansion plans under its new name.

He said:
The pattern of demand revealed by Woodhurstís recent engagements is a cause for general optimism and makes us very confident of achieving our targets. The public sector, which provided consultancy firms with much-needed business during the downturn, continues to boom. However, consultancy to certain areas of the private sector is now thriving as well. We are experiencing high demand for candidates with financial services experience, and even telecoms and technology consultancy is undergoing a revival after the ravages of the dotcom collapse. All the signs are that now is a major opportunity for growth for Woodhurst, our clients and business at large.