Booming finance sector sees Dufrain embark on recruitment drive in city

Dufrain is looking to hire 50 consultants in the next six months to handle a booming number of calls for help with complex data issues in the face of increasing regulatory requirements.

The company, based in Edinburgh, has identified Leeds with its large and growing financial services sector, as a key growth market for its consultancy.

It is also planning expansion in Manchester, Glasgow, London and Dublin.

A spokeswoman for Dufrain said: “We have a huge emphasis on Leeds because we think there is going to be a very significant demand for our services there.

“There’s a very big financial services sector in the city and we see a great deal of potential.”

The company aims to hire 50 analysts, project managers and other high-end professionals, adding to its existing staff of 85 in Edinburgh and London. New offices are planned in Manchester and Dublin.

Dufrain has grown rapidly since it was founded in the midst of the recession, in 2010, by Michael Gilmartin and Stephen Henry.

They began by helping banks merge data from disparate systems into a single port of call.

Turnover during the 12 months to the end of May reached £4.2m, and is expected to jump by more than 80 per cent in the current year to just shy of £8m.

The company says its growth so far has largely been organic, but it does not rule out the possibility of acquisitions in the future.

The recession proved challenging in Dufrain’s early days – but the regulatory crackdown that resulted from it has seen a rapid growth in demand for the company’s services.

The prominence of Leeds as a stronghold of financial services has made it a natural target for the company’s expansion plans.