Slowdown in UK says Page

RECRUITMENT firm Michael Page today said UK growth fell to single digits as the banking slowdown started to impact on other areas of the business.

The group, which has operations in Edinburgh, saw UK gross profits during the first quarter of this year rise by 6.7 per cent to £47.1 million, down from the 16 per cent and 20 per cent growth seen during the last two quarters of 2007.

The company cited a "further weakening of the banking sector" for the slowdown, adding that it was "also impacting some of our other disciplines that service banking clients".

Across the whole group, Michael Page posted a record quarterly gross profit of £140.3m, up 33 per cent on the first quarter of 2007.