Confidence is returning to some sectors, according to the chairman of technical recruiter Matchtech Group.

At the firm’s annual general meeting, chairman George Materna said that Matchtech’s business model was showing resilience in challenging market conditions.

“We are encouraged to see signs that general levels of confidence are improving in certain client sectors.  Permanent placement levels have remained relatively stable for the last six months and contractors on assignment are now 6% higher than at 31 July 2009. However, it will take longer before we can discern any clear trend in terms of the impact on our own activity levels.

“Despite the continued uncertainty in the UK economy, the group’s trading for the first quarter to 31 October 2009 has been in line with the board’s expectations and, albeit with limited visibility, the outlook for the current financial year to 31 July 2010 remains unchanged from that set out at the time of our year-end results on 8 October 2009.”