Opportunities knock in Wales as leading recruiter opens city office

Mar 12 2008 by Aled Blake, Western Mail

RECRUITMENT firm Michael Page International has opened an office in Cardiff.

The FTSE 250 company said it decided to establish a base in Wales because of a buoyant jobs market and burgeoning financial services sector.

Nick Jones has been appointed regional manager for Michael Page International to head up the company’s Welsh team.

Michael Page is to recruit finance and accounting roles from part-qualified through to executive board level appointments across Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, Bridgend and West Wales.

According to Mr Jones, the demand for experienced finance professionals is greater than ever across many sectors, particularly financial services, business to business services and manufacturing.

Mr Jones said, “We continually see opportunities for candidates within all finance specialisms and in all industry sectors.

“Wales has gone through and continues to go through high levels of growth. Coupled with a beautiful landscape and ever improving transport links, South Wales is now appealing to more and more as a place to be based and settle in.

“There is plenty of diversity across the region, too. Something that is consistent throughout is the passion and respect people have for their country.

“Generically there is consistent demand for accountants that are either studying towards a qualification or are, indeed, qualified.

“ More specifically, financial services and banking is very predominant in the major cities. However, this is closely followed by a high demand for finance professionals with manufacturing, business to business, pharmaceutical, telecoms and hi-tech experience.”

Michael Page International is a global recruitment consultancy, with bases in 25 countries.

Established more than 30 years ago, Michael Page has been one of the leading recruiters of finance professionals in the South Wales region – working from offices in England. Andrew James, director, said, “We have been a constant in the South Wales Rregion for more than 30 years, focusing on the placement of candidates in permanent, contract, temporary and interim positions within a wide variety of organisations from the FTSE 100 to the most entrepreneurial and innovative SME.

“Our non-commissioned approach allows us to provide the most consultative, impartial and professional recruitment advice of any consultancy in the South Wales region.

“We have realised there is a niche in the South Wales market for a recruitment consultancy offering this professional approach and we intend to provide the high quality of service required to support it.”

Mr Jones opened the Michael Page Cardiff office at the start of 2008.

He said, “We already have a number of very well established relationships with some of the key recruiting businesses – HBOS, WRU, Lloyds TSB, Linde, Premier Foods and Amazon to name a few.

“We also work with many smaller and medium sized companies that provide a more intimate working environment too.

“The world is getting smaller and now South Wales is so much more accessible.

“We have local consultants with a combined total of 30 years’ experience servicing local clients and candidates.

“Outside of recruitment, we also offer a broader perspective. We advise professionals on how the local markets compare to the south-west of England and discuss career planning and structuring for the future. It is an exciting time to be looking for a job in South Wales. This is not just a reflection of opportunities in finance, it applies to other areas too.

“I am sure Michael Page will be bringing its specialist approach to more professions in the very near future.”