Recruitment Investment Group (RIG), the venture capitalist set up to finance start-up firms which could be recruitment’s next big thing, is looking for new projects.

Chief executive Bryan Lloyd (pictured) told Recruiter that the three projects it started this year, RIG Police Recruits, RIG Energy and RIG Radiographers, were profitable and progressing well.

The group was set up last year and is the brainchild of Lloyd, previously finance director of IT recruiter Spring, and Peter Flaherty, formerly chief executive of Spring’s rival MSB.

Lloyd said: “We are looking to find markets that remind us of IT recruitment in the early 1990s – high margin and with clearly identified qualifications.”

RIG Police Recruits specialises in placing recently-retired policemen in temporary roles, while RIG Energy specialises in gas engineers.

He explained: “These professions have got qualifications that are clearly defined and have skills that are in very high demand.

“We have got 200 contractors and they are all generating profits and we are going through the next wave of new companies and are looking for new partners,” Lloyd said.

Flaherty and Lloyd guide their start-up companies as directors and provide them with the financial backing they need to get started. They also advise existing entrepreneurs on exit strategies so they can realise their wealth once businesses have become successful.