Recruiter's monitored shares fared better this week, with many holding their price. Some of the industry's leading names even saw their share price increase in value.

Matchtech shares rose 1.5p to 358.5p after it reported good growth in net fee income across its engineering, built environment and support services divisions. It said its operating performance in the first half of the financial year has been in line with the Board's expectations.

FDM's share price rose half a pence to 109p, and continued to rise to reach 111.5p, on the news that it has appointed Sheila Flavell and Andrew Brown to its board as executive directors.

Hat Pin's shares also rose slightly as it announced the sale of poorly-performing The Talent Business to its former chief executive Gary Stolkin for £1.5m. An additional amount of £1m is payable over the next two years, subject to certain performance criteria.

Shares in Healthcare Locums rose half a pence to 82.5p as it revealed that its trading has continued to grow in line with management expectations. The group says it has seen a strong start to 2008, with its three UK operating divisions experiencing strong demand for their services.

Meanwhile, Berkeley Scott's share price was unaffected, remaining at 24.5p, following the group's trading update, which reported that its net fee income increased 17% for the final quarter of 2007 on a like-for-like basis. It also revealed plans to change the company's name to Kellan Group to reflect the newly-enlarged group. Kellan, the Celtic word for powerful, was proposed following a consultation with employees and testing among key stakeholders.