Specialist IT staffing firm InterQuest Group has announced that it has temporarily suspended share trading because it is unlikely to be able to appoint a nominated advisor in time for it to comply with Alternative Investment Market rules.

Last week the group announced that its agreement with the company's nominated adviser and broker Panmure Gordon Limited terminated. Prior to this the company commenced the process of finding and appointing a new nominated adviser and broker in the ordinary course, and believed at the time of the termination of its agreement with its current nominated adviser and broker, as well as subsequently, that it was confident that a new appointment would be made within the requisite notice period. However they were not able to find a replacement and therefore the company was in breach of Rule 1 of the AIM Rules for Companies. 

InterQuest announced that is actively working to engage a replacement nominated adviser and broker and expects that an appointment of a replacement nominated adviser and broker will be completed within one month of the suspension.

In a trading update provided last month, the group reported that like-for-like Net Fee Income for the six months to 30 June 2017 was down 14% to £9.5 million (2016: £11.0 million). InterQuest added that it rebuffed several takeover bids from Chisbridge Limited in recent months and said that it incurred costs of £0.5 million in the process.