Results round-up

Recruitment business Kellan Group swung to a loss in the first half as sales fell, with many clients taking longer to make decisions due to uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum.

In the six months to the end of June, the company swung to a loss of £0.1m from a profit of £0.2m in the same period a year ago, as sales declined 13% to £10m.

Meanwhile, net fee income dropped 10% to £3.3m.

Executive chairman Richard Ward said the results for the first half were “disappointing”, but the group has had success in securing new clients and growing some areas of the business.

The company said its Berkeley Scott temporary business was flat year-on-year with the new Living Wage impacting the first-half performance.

Work Group reported another loss in 2015 as the company was “without doubt struggling to survive” in difficult trading conditions.

“Throughout the course of 2015, we were without doubt struggling to survive and I must thank our people for their commitment and endeavours in achieving the outcome that we did,” said chairman Simon Howard.

“However, our difficult trading conditions were exacerbated by some truly appalling corporate behaviour in the UK.”

Howard pointed the figure at the company’s former banks who did “little to support us despite a relationship going back many years”.

He said their constant change in personnel, interpretation of facility limits to the narrowest extent possible and failure to respond to requests is a “sad reflection on the state of a once reliable business partner”.

“The reality is that they did nothing to help us and in practice nearly caused our demise.”

The company, which supplies employee engagement and recruitment outsourcing services, sold its overseas subsidiaries and UK business to Capita on 31 December. Work Group the disposal was the “culmination of an extremely difficult year”.