Armstrong Craven fee income grows 10% over year

ARMSTRONG Craven, the Hale-based headhunting firm, saw net fee income hit £4.4m over the financial year.

The results for the year to the end of December 2011, show a 9.2% in net fee income on last year. Operating profit fell slightly to £934,000 in 2011 from £1m a year earlier.

Armstrong Craven’s performance was praised by its parent company – AIM-listed Work Group – which said it had made a strong profit contribution.

Group revenues were £21.7m, down from £22.8m in 2010, with pre-tax profits of £59,000, up from a loss of £157,000.

A redundancy programme across Work Group’s offices in Hale and London and the closure of an office in Scotland saw the group’s workforce cut by 9% from 171 to 156, which generated exceptional costs of £419,000.

Simon Howard, group chairman, said: “Our results for 2011 show that the group is moving in the right direction and demonstrates confidence in our range of services.

“In Armstrong Craven, income increased, the business mix improved and there was profit contribution.”