Gary Ashworth, chairman of IT recruiter InterQuest Group, describes the first half of 2012 as “a period of significant change for the group”, with investments made “at the expense of short-term 2012 profitability”, although profit before tax was still a healthy £932k.

This profit figure was a significant reduction from last year’s £1.67m, while earning before interest, tax and amortisation also dropped by 39% from the same period in 2011 to £1.07m.

Revenues were down just 6%, to £55.81m, while net fee income increased by the same percentage to £8.29m.

The company now has net debt of £6.4m, £1m more than in 2011.

Change in the business included the opening of a new office in Singapore in Q4 2011, its first overseas base, which now has 13 fee earners, as well as moving its financial services business to a new office in Canary Wharf under one leader in February. In the same month Gary Goldsmith joined the company as chief operating officer, and across the period, the fee earning headcount rose from 169 to 194.