Sheffield Haworth closes Frankfurt office, expands in Asia

The closure of the Frankfurt office, which was opened in the buoyant days of 2000, follows the closure of the firm's Paris office in July. Together the two offices employed about 16 people.

David Reynolds, the newly promoted executive director of Sheffield Haworth, said the offices were shut because of the economic downturn. The firm was now covering continental European recruitment from London.

'We will not stop doing business in Germany. A lot of Germans are hired from London anyway,' he added.

Meanwhile the firm is beefing up in Hong Kong, where it opened an office last April. This covers the Asian cash equity and derivatives markets and Reynolds said it now planned to develop its equity derivatives capacity, as well as add a fixed income and asset management arm. The office planned to hire about three new staff

In London, the firm has promoted Dominic Freeland, Dominie Moss and Neil Mckay from associate to consultant. It said it aimed to hire three or four associates in London to join the firm's 18-month training course.

Despite the flurry of recruitment, European office closures appear to have dented Sheffield Haworth's expansion plans.

In an interview with Financial News last March, Tim Sheffield, the chief executive, said the firm hoped to expand to 60 employees by the end of 2002. Last week he said headcount now stood at 40.