International staffing group Randstad says that “revenue trends in the UK strengthened”, with education and finance sectors particularly good performers, although total revenues for the UK fell in both Q4 2012 and the year as a whole.

UK revenues for 2012 totalled €798.7m (£691m), down 8% on 2011, while Q4 revenue also dropped 6% compared to the previous year.

While the company saw the combined staffing and in-house business contract by 26%, education, finance, care and managed services saw growth.

The group-wide results, available online, show revenues were up 5% across the 2012 financial year to €17.1bn, although adjusted net income dropped 8%. The final quarter’s revenue was €4.23bn, down 3% on the previous year.