Approximately how many recruitment agencies are there in the UK?

Question

In addition to a single general figure, I'd like to get an indication of the approximate number of, and ratio of the large companies (e.g. Reed) to the smaller agencies, including those single individuals that work from home. I'd greatly appreciate any site recommendations that present these type of statistics.

Answer 1

This year the former Annual Recruitment Industry Survey has been re-named. It's new title, the 'Annual Industry Turnover and Key Volumes Survey' better reflects the core content of the report and is more appropriate considering the growing amount of research now produced by the Industry Research Unit.
The content of the survey however is unchanged and the report remains an indispensable reference document providing a key source of data on industry turnover, volumes and staffing levels. Over time this survey has built up a unique record of the growth of the recruitment industry in the UK and its findings are used widely by market planners, industry commentators and lobbyists in Whitehall and Brussels. Above all it is used by recruitment firms, large and small to help assess their performance in the current market place.
The Annual Turnover and Volumes Survey is sponsored by Ernst & Young.
This year, the number of responses to the survey has again increased. The results are based on 617 completed and usable questionnaires. .
This report covers the period April 2005 to March 2006.
Key Findings

• Overall, the results show a return to growth for the industry following the downturn in total turnover recorded for the previous period. The demand for temporary/contract labour has returned and permanent business also continues to grow. Overall, there has been a 5.8% increase in turnover, the highest annual growth rate since 2000/2001. Total industry turnover now stands at just under £25 billion, its highest recorded level.

• Overall turnover for temporary/contract recruitment grew by 6.4% to £21.6 billion for the period ending March 2006.

• The period 2004/05 saw many recruiters making a significant switch to permanent business. During 2005/06 the rate of growth in this area reduced although total turnover still increased by 2%. This meant that the overall share of the market fell 0.5% to 13.2%.

• The 2005/06 survey results show that the total number of staff employed in the recruitment industry reduced slightly for the period with a 1.6% decrease in overall headcount.

• The volume of permanent placements increased again in 2005/2006 although the 7.9% increase is less than the rate recorded for the previous period.

• The findings show that a total of 1,265,060 temporary/contract workers were on firm's payroll in the given week in November 2005. This figure represents a small (3.8%) increase on the number recorded for the previous year.
For best authentic information you may buy this book available at:
http://www.rec.uk.com/rec/research/2006annualturnover.aspx

Answer 2

Did you apply for this? If not, then it's fake. If you did, then watch out: the writer's ability to express anything in the English language is rather limited - certainly not an educated person, as I would have expected of someone calling himself "Chief Recruit Officer". Another giveaway is the fact that they want you to part with almost £700 to be interviewed. Yeah, right! This looks like a fraud.