The update, released this morning, reveals while the global specialist recruitment group had experienced the adverse impact of political uncertainty combined with the impact of proposed changes to IR35 in the UK and public demonstrations and disorder in Hong Kong, it had seen a “strong” performance in the US.

While group net fee income for the year totalled roughly £29.4m – marginally down on 2018 (£30.5m) – it expects underlying profit before tax for the year will be broadly in line with current management expectations.

The group’s balance sheet remains strong, with net cash at 31 December £4.5m (2018: £4.9m), net of payments during the year of roughly £1.3m in respect of dividends, share buy-backs and earn-out payments in relation to the acquisition of Argyll Scott.

• Comment below on this story. You can also tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend. Our editorial email is [email protected]