Headhunters win entrepreneur award

The award, previously won by such luminaries as Stelios

Haji-Ioannou of Easygroup, went to Ian Temple and Christopher Cole, joint

managing directors of Professional Recruitment Organisation (PRO).

PRO specialises in recruiting sales professionals, finance professionals,

audit professionals and law professionals. Temple, a former accountant, and

Cole, a former recruiter with Michael Page, founded the company in 1997.

It has grown rapidly. In 2001 PRO had 100 employees, 3 offices in London,

Windsor and New York, and turnover of 11 million.

PRO says it is weathering the downturn in financial services. "The market has been tough and there is little to indicate it will improve significantly soon, yet we have grown again this year by another 36%," said Cole.

The firm said it had prospered by shifting its focus away from junior positions, in favour of senior vacancies. Demand for senior people was stronger, he said.