IT SEEMS to be a case of if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, for the owners of Dublin-based Osborne Recruitment, who have decided to emigrate to Australia, where they are increasingly helping out-of-work Irish people find employment.

“It’s partly that and partly to grow the business,” shareholder Brendan Murphy told me this week. He and his wife Lesley Osborne, who founded the business in the 1990s, and their children,

will be moving to Perth next month.

This will mark the first time an Irish-owned recruiter has opened an office in Australia.

“Our family is mobile and this is a major growth opportunity for the business.”

Murphy was keen to stress that it will be business as usual at Osborne’s Dublin operation.

“There is business here [Ireland] but it’s flat and shows no signs of improvement,” he said. “So we’ve decided to look elsewhere for growth.”

Osborne currently employs 13 staff here, about half the number before the recession. It has revenues “north of €2 million”, according to Murphy.

Osborne has placed about 100 Irish workers in positions in Australia in the past year and participated in the recent Working Abroad Expo.

With Perth booming, Murphy is confident the contacts he has established Down Under and the steady flow of Irish emigrants heading there will underpin the business.

“We plan to give it a really good bash.”