The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) will soon be looking for a new spokesperson after Marcia Roberts, its current director of external relations, was promoted to deputy chief executive.

Gareth Osborne will continue in his role as managing director and will be responsible for promoting the REC’s services to members.

Roberts will take over the day-to-day running of the organisation, which looks set to make a profit this year for the first time.

That will leave a vacancy for someone with excellent persuasion skills to fill the post of external relations director, a role which involves lobbying the government and European politicians.

Osborne is particularly concerned with members’ comments that the organisation is too London-centric.

It is hoped the changes will improve the REC’s structure and make it more responsive to members’ concerns.

Roberts said: “I will be taking a management role and will be focusing on making the REC more effective. Gareth will be acting as an ambassador and taking the REC’s message to our membership.”

But Roberts will be a hard act to follow, given the REC’s success with its lobbying campaigns.

The trade body has been relentless in its efforts to convince the government that recruitment agencies help the UK economy.

Then the government used its clout in Europe to make sure the Agency Workers Directive, which called for equal pay for temps, was shelved.