ONE OF Ireland’s oldest recruitment companies, Sales Placement Limited, is to be wound up after 38 years in businesses. Owner and managing director Liz Leavy said the decision by the company’s bank to withdraw finance was one of the main reasons for the closure.

Sales Placement Limited was established by J Brendan O’Reilly in 1973. Based in Merchant’s Quay in Dublin, the company specialised in the recruitment of sales and marketing professionals. At the height of the boom the firm employed close to 50 people directly, although its workforce had contracted substantially in recent years, with five workers employed at the end of 2009.

Ms Leavy, who bought the company from Brendan O’Reilly in 2007, said yesterday she was “devastated” by the closure. While the rapid deterioration of the employment market had a “huge” impact on the business, she said lack of support from the company’s bank, Bank of Ireland, left the company with little choice but to enter voluntary liquidation.

“It just got too difficult. For the past nine months the bank has been putting huge pressure on, and finally withdrew our overdraft facilities and the payroll facilities for the contract side of the business.”

A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland said yesterday the bank does not comment on specific cases, but it recognised the difficulties facing small and medium-sized businesses. “We do our best to accommodate our business customers wherever possible, and we stress that it is crucial that customers keep the lines of communication open.”

While the economic downturn has had a serious impact on the recruitment industry, Ms Leavy said sales and marketing recruitment was relatively immune to the cyclical nature of the employment industry. “I feel that the bank could have stuck with us until the market picks up.”

A creditors’ meeting has been scheduled for March 19th, when a liquidator will be appointed.