| 
Welcome to the first edition of our Recruitment Sector update. |
The Recruitment sector team draws on specialist expertise within the firm's Business Services team from lawyers who understand legal issues effecting the sector. Through this newsletter we will keep you up to date with legal and financial matters to help you manage risk and increase the bottom line. There is a lot of consolidation in the market at present with smaller recruiters selling out through fear of the compliance requirements of AWR. This issue contains "10 Top Tips" for buying a recruitment business as well as an article on the anti avoidance provisions of AWR. We have also included two article to assist with increasing that all important bottom line. The first deals with maximising revenue through transfer fees and is the first in a series of three articles on the subject. The second, written by Steve Smith, an insolvency practitioner at Mercer and Hole, looks at how to maximise your recoveries where clients go into a form of insolvency. I hope you find this issue useful. We would appreciate your feedback and are happy to answer any questions you have arising out of these articles. Please do forward this news letter to your colleagues. Best wishes Luke Tucker Harrison
Associate Solicitor | 
The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 which come into force on 1st October 2011 have received a large amount of press coverage over recent months. Most of the focus has been on the improved rights of temporary workers with “Day One Rights” allowing equal access to facilities and vacancies and “12 Week Rights” ensuring equal employment “conditions” to comparative full time workers as if they had been employed by the hirer directly.
Harsh economic times are likely to herald exciting opportunities in the recruitment sector as stronger players take the opportunity to “bulk up” through acquisition or merger. Even though we may be in a buyers’ market, buyers should resist the temptation to cut corners when carrying out due diligence on potential acquisitions (ie “targets”) and when preparing the purchase agreement.
Despite reports of “green shoots” the economy remains fragile. Businesses continue to look carefully at their costs and staff costs remains high on the agenda. Gone are the days where businesses would pay standard rates for permanent introductions without seeking to negotiate. Margins on temporary workers also remain squeezed.
Creditors don’t always fully appreciate their rights enabling them to influence the appointment of an independent liquidator at a creditors’ meeting to carry out investigations into the prior dealings of a creditor being placed into an insolvency process.
