IT staffing specialist InterQuest has seen “strong” trading, according to a trading update for the half year ended 30 June 2010.

The update reveals:

• group net fee income in first half of 2010 was 14% higher than the first half of 2009
• group net fee income in Q2 of 2010 was 25% higher than Q2 of 2009 and 7% higher than Q1 of 2010
• number of contractor runners working onsite at clients in the final week of Q2 was 14% higher than in the final week of Q2 of 2009 and 10% up on the final week of Q1 2010.

Gary Ashworth, executive chairman of InterQuest Group, says: “Trading in the first six months of the year has been strong, showing increased levels of demand in both permanent and contract recruitment. While there has been some weakness in the public sector, this has been more than offset by growth in the private sector.

“We continue to invest in the Group and successfully recruited our first intake of entrants into our new in-house training programme, iQad. We expect to commence a second programme in September. We believe that with activity levels returning and the enlargement of the group we are in a strong position as we head into the second half of the year.”

InterQuest will reveal its interim results on 15 September.