‘Award Winning’ LA International clears £200 Million and ups the ante on Cyber Warfare

‘Award Winning’ LA International clears £200 Million and  ups the ante on Cyber Warfare 


The Staffordshire-based IT Recruitment  firm, which supplies IT, Technology and Engineering consultants to companies across the world will break through £200 Million Turnover this financial year and remains on course to exceed £1/4 Billion in the next 2 years.

Currently employing in excess of 125 staff at its Staffordshire based HQ and with over 2,000 consultants working globally, the high-end -recruiter is looking to increase their Sales Staff over the next 12 months by a further 20%, expanding their UK and International operations to meet demand from both  existing and emerging markets.

Led by Chairman and  Chief Executive Paul Lukic,  he comments “continuing a thirty year pattern of strong sustained organic growth is key to our continuing success. We have invested significantly to expand in our existing and new markets and will continue to invest in the development of our company, our employees, our product and standards which will enable us to carry out our growth strategy.” Lukic continues “you will either step forward into growth or you will step back into stagnation”

Growth

Growth has been strong, not only from core markets such as Public Sector, Telecommunications and Engineering, but also from developing sectors with high demand for skills including Cyber Security and Cloud Computing. International growth has significantly exceeded the industry average following further headcount and training investment in the Company’s International Division.  A clear strategy on International growth  has recently resulted in international sales increasing by 41%, cementing LA International’s third appearance in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table, ranking LA International amongst Britain’s  top private companies with the fastest-growing international sales in Europe, North America and Asia. 

Financial Director, Paul Martin stated “we have continued growth year on year without exception, with revenues now at a  level currently in excess of £200  Million with the current financial year turnover expected to  increase by over £30 Million on last year, positioning the Company in line with its targets to break through the £1/4 Billion mark within the next two years”.

New Wins

Sales Director, Jamie Davies concurred, adding that “We’ve secured some of our largest wins in the last 12 months, which have come off the back of continued investment in all operating divisions within the business. A number of national  Public Sector framework wins have continued strong growth within our Government business, and  increased investment in our Commercial sectors and Managed Service offering has seen a number of substantial  Preferred Supplier (PSL) wins in the IT/Technology & Engineering  space.   Software / Applications Development, Testing, IT Support, Project/Programme Management and Technical Consultancy remain central to our service portfolio, with a significant and increasing demand for cutting edge Cloud Computing and Cyber expertise”.

LA International's eight specialist divisions include the following: Public Sector, National Security and Defence, Financial Services, International, ICT, Engineering, Managed services and Permanent Divisions.

LA International - at the Leading Edge of skills in demand

Many of the candidates recruited by LA International in each of its  eight specialist Divisions are often at the cutting edge of technology and are at the forefront of global IT trends.   One such demand is the  explosion in  Cyber Security and, according to UK government reports, a massive 81% of large businesses have reported a Cyber security breach and 60% of small business have reported the same.

Cyber-attacks represent  a huge risk to national security and everyday life, with potential to disrupt transport, financial services, banking, manufacturing, power & utilities. A rapidly increasing volume of software exploits including viruses, trojans and worms, with thousands of new variants being detected every day, is driving massive demand for leading IT / Network expertise. As such, the Government’s National Security Strategy has now rated cyber-attacks as a ‘Tier 1’ threat. The Government spent £650M on a Strategic Defence & Security Review to establish the Office of Cyber Security & Assurance within the cabinet office to strengthen the UKs Cyber capacity, with  another £210 million of investment  announced on top of that.

The security sector is worth a staggering £12bn, £4bn of which is spent on Cyber Security measures. The UK is one of the leading cyber security nations of the world and  most cyber security recruitment is sourced from the UK skills base, however, demands are high as employers compete for talent.

A recent Government report on Cyber Security Skills highlighted the skills shortages business face and the threats that it presents.  Demand for cyber security skills continue to increase as businesses increasingly take steps to protect themselves from cyber-attack.

Head of Operations, Stephen Turnock says “ Cyber Security is the defence of networked computer systems against various forms of attack. These systems may be for use at home or a major commercial or Government organisation. The growth of the internet has been a social and technological change for the better, but at the same time, increasing dependence on cyberspace has brought new risks to national security, essential infrastructure, businesses and individuals. These networked systems underpin our critical national and defence infrastructure, resulting in unprecedented demand for Cyber Security professionals.

Awards

LA International’s position as a market leader has been recognised by their peers in the recruitment industry and has resulted in winning numerous accolades ahead of their competitors year after year at the Recruiter Awards for Excellence, securing the top accolade of UK’s Best IT Recruitment Firm no less than three times as well as  best Public Sector Recruitment Firm and the ‘Winner of Winners’ Gold Award.

The Recruiter Awards for Excellence are the UK’s largest event for the whole recruitment community recognising best practice, celebrating success, awarding in-house and agency recruitment teams for their outstanding work, innovation and achievements.

As you would expect from a leading International Recruitment company, recruiting and developing the very best internal staff is ‘a given’.  “The stellar growth and success of LA International in delivering on all fronts, including continually winning top industry awards,  is down to our strategy for growth backed by our internal training academy” says Scott Henry, Managing Director .

He goes on to say “Such awards reflect directly on the quality of our staff, .  whether a new member of our Graduate Programme or an experienced Sales/Recruitment professional, our internal training academy provides a structured and incremental career path from entry level to Senior Management. Adding to this a fantastic growth and development ethos, a great working environment resulting in top dollar benefits, produces the formulae for success”.