Preferred International is a recruitment company specialising in IT and management information reporting.
One of the most successful recruitment companies in Europe, they have
won awards for excellence and were named the ‘Best IT Recruitment
Company 2003’ at the recruiter awards. Established in 1998 by five
directors with IT recruitment experience, the company has become one of
the city’s most notable recruitment agents, gaining IIP and ISO
accreditation along the way.
The company has its original office
in Southampton and its northern HQ in Leeds where, following
significant expansion, it expects to employ up to 30 people. The
company was keen to move to modern serviced offices to allow for
continued growth and planned staff expansion.
Preferred
International approached Leeds City Council for help. It needed
premises in the centre of Leeds that reflected the company’s image and
professionalism, and that were large enough to accommodate their rapid
expansion. Leeds City Council conducted searches of all premises for
sale / let and of all property agents within the area. The company was
provided with up-to-date listings of those premises matching their
criteria and in October 2004 moved to new premises at Whitehall, in the
centre of Leeds. The council’s business development team was also on
hand to offer advice and guidance throughout the move.
David
Ainsworth, head of the Leeds office said - “Leeds City Council helped
us to target our search and supplied us with details of properties that
met our criteria. This allowed us to continue to provide a first class
service to our clients whilst undergoing a period of major change. The
service was very useful to a busy company which has a clear agenda, as
not all estate agents provide the right type of property which wastes
time in moving the business forward.”
Following the move,
Preferred International has expanded operations to serve other areas of
the IT recruitment market and has recruited a number of new employees.
It hopes to continue in its planned programme of growth and expansion,
continually raising its profile as a leading, cutting edge recruitment
agency specialising in the IT and media technology fields.
Leeds
is currently processing approximately 35% of all data traffic within
the UK, and the digital economy within Leeds is growing apace with
developments such as the Round Foundry Media Centre and the New
Technology Institute. Set against this backdrop of growth, the company
continues to seek new staff to deal with the steadily increasing demand
for IT contract and permanent staff within Leeds.