Recruiters are focusing their energy on the renewable and nuclear niches, with a growing number launching new divisions in the wide-ranging sector.

“It’s a buzz market at the moment. There’s plenty of appetite there,” Ben Bowers, managing director of rec-to-recenergy specialist Bowers Consulting, told Recruiter.

Since the start of the year Hays has expanded its energy division, Cocoabean has launched a second office in Ipswich focusing on the energy sector and Cooper Lomaz Recruitment has launched a specialist division, to mention a few.

James Beazley, director of energy recruiter Six Recruitment, which launched in 2006, told Recruiter: “There’s been a proliferation of recruiters who will work on a contingent basis on very low margins to get into the industry.”

Bowers said the specialist knowledge needed to compete made entry difficult: “The problem is going to be the amount of traction people have moving into an industry they don’t understand.

“That’s where the difficulty comes in recruiting for those people — trying to find the talent that has the experience
and can bring a knowledge base to the role and relationships.”

Dan Moloney, managing director of construction and property recruiter Judd Farris, which entered the energy sector in December, acknowledged it would take time to develop business.

“Everyone has the same idea. However, we built our name on being a specialist and there are opportunities for us to build upon this,” Moloney told Recruiter.

“We only need to target a small number of clients and we aren’t pushing our consultants to make placements in their first few months.”

Anthony Knight, managing director of multi-sector recruiter Brightwork, which launched an energy division in January 2008, told Recruiter the marketplace had been “very competitive”.

Regardless of the number of new entrants into the market, recruiters believe it is not yet at saturation point. “Sector specialism will be enough to stave off too many challenges,” Bowers said.