Bill Shipton, commercial director of Workthing, has been appointed as chairman of the Association of Online Recruiters (AOLR).

The appointment to head up REC’s online division - previously held by Don McIntosh of Topjobsonthenet - is effective immediately.

Shipton has been involved in online recruitment since 1995 when he joined PeopleBank as managing director and ran the business for its owners Associated Newspapers.

He subsequently led an MBO of the company before selling to Workthing in November last year.

He takes over the AOLR at a difficult time in the sector’s deveopment, with a rash of consolidation and the high-profile failure of Stepstone damaging confidence.

Shipton told Professional Recruiter that his main objective is to develop the body’s code of practice, ensuring that jobseekers and recruiters alike were protected from some of the bad practices which have damaged confidence, such as scraping of CVs.

He also plans to raise the profile of AOLR as the independent voice of the online recruitment industry.

Commenting on the appointment, Shipton said: ‘Despite the froth of the last few years, the online recruitment industry has established itself as a key element of the sector to the benefit of clients and jobseekers alike.’