Large companies in food retailing are bucking the trend and are placing a strong emphasis on searching out the best in human capital, according to an executive search recruiter.

Rob Devlin, director at MHA Partners, says that firms such as Soveys, the second largest food retailer in Canada, Metro in Germany and Morrisons in the UK are “still recruiting and looking for the best people now” to put them in good stead for future growth, post the recession.

In November, MHA Partners placed Richard Lancaster, former managing director of Netto, as senior trading director for Morrisons. “Richard starts in January and he is the first among four or five other senior hires in the pipeline for the company found by MHA,” says Devlin.

Devlin believes his firm’s boutique approach is appreciated by companies who prefer to have “a more personal service” than that offered by some larger executive search firms.

“One-off transactional placements costing £25k are no longer viable in this climate,” says Devlin, who prefers to enter into long-term partnerships with clients to offer added-value and give a more thorough service.