Privately-held UK-based specialist recruitment consultancy MERJE reported revenue of £8.62 million for the full year 2018, an increase of 22.2% when compared to £7.05 million in 2017.

The £8.62 million revenue figure is the highest yearly figure since the company formed in 2011.

Among MERJE’s specialist areas, which includes compliance, finance & audit and credit risk & analytics, the group said its financial crime & fraud recruitment division saw a year-on-year increase of 111% in permanent placements and 211% in contract placements.

Andy Hodson, managing consultant of the financial crime and fraud team, commented, “In light of the ever-evolving regulatory landscape governing financial crime, there is substantial demand from our clients for financial crime specialists to join them and ensure they are mitigating the risk of both financial loss and regulatory repercussions. This has been reflected by the increased success of our financial crime and fraud team at MERJE over the past 18 months.”

During the year, the group expanded its offering to include a new procurement division and broadened the scope of its customer contact services division.