Luby goes it alone with Clarendon Parker

"The buy out was driven by a desire to further grow Clarendon Parker's regional business with local knowledge and provide the Middle East's corporate sector with a dedicated, tailor-made service," said Luby. "We are now in a position to better seize regional opportunities as they arise."

Luby says he now intends to concentrate on building Clarendon Parker's regional operations and its range of services, in particular to the I.T., telecoms, construction and FMCG sectors.

"Most of our registered candidates come from within the region and are meeting increasing Gulf-wide demand for Arabic speaking personnel. Demand is now strongly focussed on the recruitment of GCC nationals and Arab expatriates, mainly from the Levant and North Africa. At senior levels, Arab expatriates are now in far greater demand than any other cultural group and that demand is growing," said Luby.

Clarendon Parker already directly employs several Arabic-speaking recruitment specialists and also has consulting expertise, qualified by the British Psychological Society, in personality and skill evaluations. The company, which recently launched a specialised engineering division, has a city office on Dubai's main Sheikh Zayed Highway and last year set up an office in Dubai Internet City to strengthen its commitment to regional I.T. and telecoms clients.

A human resource and recruitment veteran of 25 years, Luby, a Canadian-born Briton, has worked closely with the Middle East for 19 years. In 1982 he opened the Grove Personnel office in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. From 1984-1987 Luby was Personnel, Administration & Logistics Manager for Nedeco Engineering Consultants, which worked on the Shahid Rajaee New Port Complex in Bandar Abbas, Iran.