Recruitment-to-recruitment firm McCall is to expand into the US to take advantage of the country’s booming staffing market.

The firm is set to open an office in Atlanta, Georgia, using its Gerard Stewart executive search brand.

Once this business has taken off, the company’s directors hope the McCall consultant-level brand will also become established.

The move is part of parent company Empresaria’s overall strategy to diversify overseas and thus reduce its overall exposure to the volatile UK recruitment market. The AIM-listed company already has an office in Japan, which began operating in the last financial year.

Miles Hunt, director of the Empresaria group, said: “The recruitment-to-recruitment market in the US is far less developed than in the UK.

“The kind of businesses we will be up against have two or three people at the most. We believe we know the right people to build a business of some scale over there, but the first thing to do is make sure it works and is profitable and grows.”

The weak dollar and strong pound, coupled with the bullish US employment market, makes this an ideal time for investment abroad, said Hunt.

Hunt said the move would enable Gerard Stewart to place people across the Atlantic. “We have a situation where we will be able to provide options for placements in the US. There is certainly a potential synergy there.”

Julie O’Neill, joint managing director of McCall, said the US business will be up and running within a couple of weeks. O’Neill added that she hoped the move would create more business for the company.

“We do a lot of work with senior-level directors, who are very aware of global opportunities,” she said.