Confidence grows as broker recruitment activity picks up

Mark Patterson, senior consultant, insurance, at the Randstad-linked agency, said that while 2009 was quiet for even the largest brokers, this year's recruitment levels had risen across the board, with global broker Aon recruiting particularly heavily.

"There is a growing optimism. In the recession the main players - Aon, Willis and Marsh - froze any recruitment and saw it as a good time to shed dead wood. They took it as an opportunity to restructure, which brokers of that size should be doing