Staffline names new chairman, warns of lower demand

Recruitment firm Staffline appointed Ian Lawson as chairman on Monday as it warned of decreased demand in the year ahead due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Lawson's appointment came after former chairman Tracy Lewis resigned from Staffline's board last week, just seven months after taking up the role.

The AIM-listed group said demand for its recruitment services had been strong across the food sector - principally from food processing firms, logistics businesses and supermarkets as a wave of panic buying swept the UK when a government lockdown was imposed in late March

However, Staffline cautioned that while food sector customers represented approximately 60% of its client base, demand growth was not large enough to offset the temporary shutdown of the majority of its other clients.

Staffline also said it had completed its re-forecasting exercise, and while it was not in a position to provide explicit guidance on the out-turn for 2020 due to the current uncertainty surrounding the impact of the pandemic, the firm said it was "reassured" and "cautiously optimistic" about achieving a positive result on an underlying earnings basis.

"Considering the impact of Covid-19 on volumes in certain sectors across our business, the board would see this as a strong result and a demonstration of the resilience of the business," said Staffline.

As of 0925 BST, Staffline shares had surged 14.31% to 32.86p.