From left, Pam Beecroft of Matchtech, Jason Webb of King Sturge, Matchtech chairman George Materna, Nik Cox of Hughes Ellard, Josie Dean of Matchtech and Andrew Saunders of ODT Business Interiors outside a Barclay Meade office at Solent Business Park, Whiteley. Barclay Meade is a company within the Matchtech group.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY: Barclay Meade

A professional staffing recruitment agency undergoing rapid expansion has awarded a brace of contracts to ODT Business Interiors, which transforms workplaces across the South.

Barclay Meade, one of four companies within the AIM-listed Matchtech Group plc, selected fit-out specialist ODT Business Interiors following "healthy demand" for its placement services.

The contracts are for a 3,500 sq ft (325 sq m) dedicated office in Covent Garden, London, and a 2,000 sq ft (186 sq m) one in St Albans, with capacity for up to 40 and 25 staff respectively.

Barclay Meade specialises in accountancy, human resources, marketing and communications, supply chain and logistics, financial services, sales, procurement and executive search.

ODT Business Interiors, based at Solent Business Park, Whiteley, near Southampton, designed and implemented reconfigurations at the offices, with new partitioning, electrics, data, decorations and furniture.

Last year Matchtech, one of the UK's top 20 recruitment companies, appointed the firm to transform a 5,000 sq ft (464 sq m) office at 1490 Parkway, Solent Business Park, for new trading brands Barclay Meade and Alderwood Education.

That contract brought Andrew Saunders, the sales director at ODT Business Interiors, full circle with the Matchtech group - the company sourced him a job with an interiors company 18 years ago.

Andrew said:

"A well thought-out physical work environment helps with the wellbeing and performance of staff, with forward-thinking companies such as Barclay Meade switched on to this workspace reality."

Electrical Services Group, ODT Business Interiors' newly launched in-house electrical services division, was involved in the latest projects, with the London office opening on Monday, November 21st.

Nigel Lynn, Chief Executive Officer, Barclay Meade, said:

"Barclay Meade is experiencing healthy demand for its services, evidenced by the fact that we needed larger premises. This is an exciting time for everyone at Barclay Meade and we're grateful to Andrew and his team for creating inspirational work environments on time and within a sensible budget."

The widely watched Barclay Meade Tracking UK Recruitment Report stated that recruitment levels had picked up significantly compared to the same time last year.

The refurbishment contracts are the latest for ODT Business Interiors. They include Vitacress, Europe's leading grower and packer of ready-to-eat salads, at Stoneham Gate, Eastleigh, Hook-based First Drinks, which is Britain's fastest growing drinks distributor, and drinks producer Bacardi-Martini near Winchester.

In the summer ODT Business Interiors completed an eight-week project to fit out a 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) warehouse premises for precision manufacturing company FNM at 20:20 Vision Park at Petersfield, just off the A3. FNM had relocated from Midhurst, West Sussex.

Other projects carried out by the firm in Petersfield included for the NFU, Land Clean, Multipix Imaging and Diagnosys, as well as InSynch in the town's Dragon Street.

Matchtech Group itself is a leading technical, professional and outsourcing recruiting group with over 27 years experience delivering bespoke recruitment projects and programmes. The company, with more than 260 recruitment consultants, specialises in professional recruitment in the engineering and science, construction and professional services sectors. Established in 1984, Matchtech has rapidly grown to become one of the UK's top 20 recruitment companies, with a turnover of £301 million in 2010.

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For more information on Barclay Meade click on www.barclaymeade.co.uk