(Reuters) - British recruiter Robert Walters Plc <RWA.L> on Tuesday reported a 11.6 percent rise in third-quarter net fee income on increased hiring in Europe and Asia, and said recruitment activity was at its highest levels across Britain.
Quarterly net fee income rose 15 percent in Asia-Pacific and 21 percent in Europe, with Germany, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands putting in record performances, Robert Walters said.
In Britain, Birmingham, Manchester and Milton Keynes produced the strongest rates of net fee income growth, said Robert Walters, which places people in finance, engineering, legal and marketing jobs.
"In London, legal recruitment was particularly active, whilst pockets of growth emerged in financial services albeit from a low base," it added.
The company said net fee income rose to 101.2 million pounds, for the three months ended Sept. 30, from 90.7 million pounds a year earlier.
Robert Walters and its rivals SThree <STHR.L>, PageGroup <PAGE.L> and Hays <HAYS.L> are geared up for Britain's looming departure from the European Union, which has caused jitters in the country's job market.
Britain is set to leave the EU in March 2019, but has yet to reach an agreement with the bloc's negotiators on the terms of its departure, leaving open the possibility of an economically disruptive 'no deal' exit.
A Reuters survey found that only 630 UK-based finance jobs had been shifted from the British capital, a global hub for financial services, or created overseas so far ahead of Brexit, while an exit without a deal could hit 5,766 jobs.
However, two surveys showed on Monday that Britain's businesses are suffering from Brexit-related uncertainty as exports slow, recruitment difficulties mount and investment plans are scaled back.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)
