Financial Times (09/28/12) Vanessa Kortekaas

White-collar recruiter Harvey Nash has benefited from the demand for temporary recruitment in Europe but has set its sights on the U.S. for medium-term growth. The firm has benefited from a rise in operating profits in the U.K. and Europe this year but growth was fastest in the U.S., where revenue up to the end of July increased by 25% to £21.9 million compared with the same time last year. Gross profits in the U.S. were up 16% to £5.4 million in the same period.

“I call it the Apple effect or the Google effect,” said Albert Ellis, chief executive. He said headhunting among technology companies—an area in which the recruiter specializes—has created a healthy and fluid jobs sector on the U.S. west coast. The U.S. accounts for about 13% of Harvey Nash’s gross profits worldwide.