Gattaca becomes latest recruiter to report post-Brexit vote pain

Gattaca, the small cap London-listed recruiter, lowered full year profit expectations by 10 to 15 per cent in a trading update this morning, blaming “tougher UK trading conditions post the Brexit vote”, in the latest sign of the pain being felt across the UK recruitment sector.

Companies were dragging out hiring decisions and delaying projects, it said, damaging the group’s net fee income.

The warning from the engineering and technology specialist follows a series of reports of slowing UK revenues at its larger peers this week, including Hays and PageGroup.

However, the company said the medium-term outlook was improving, reporting “some signs of a return of confidence in recent weeks”.

The £93.3m market cap group, formerly named Matchtech, also admitted that setting up overseas entities to support a pan-European contract had resulted in a one-off “unanticipated” cost overrun.

Gattaca added that a February acquisition had boosted its ability to supply engineering and technology workers to the UK’s railways, which continue to draw government investment.

Last year, the group made full year profits before tax of £15.1m. Its 2017 financial year ends 31 July.