But there are pockets, at least, of good news where businesses are doing very nicely thank you, where the doom-mongers are meeting their match.

Take Peterborough-based business The One Group, for example. The figures point to a relatively rosy picture.

The company, which was set up only four years ago, has recorded its best-ever month in August 2008, 94 per cent up on the same month in 2007. Number crunching for the January to August 2008 period shows a rise of 74 per cent in terms of gross profit.

It signals significant growth despite the market being tighter over the last 12 months.

In that time, the head count at The One Group has risen from 12 to 23, and the company has launched several new divisions.

This time last year, it was purely an accountancy recruiter. It now has three dedicated recruitment divisions – accountancy, office appointments and executive.

In addition, to further enhance its mantra of being a people solutions business, One Engage and Retain was launched, a division which is geared to helping companies get the most out of their staff. This can be in a number of ways such as leadership development programmes, improving customer service/sales performance or running motivational team building sessions.

But figures and financial targets are not the be all and end all, according to director Tristan Drane.

He said: "All our staff work as if they are their own business leader. They act in an autonomous way with clear direction and support.

"We all have a shared goal and vision, to provide the best level of service to clients and candidates alike and constantly strive for further value-added service."

Accountancy recruitment is where The One Group started and is its most mature market. In Peterborough, there are eight dedicated specialists working in this division.

"We are probably the leading accountancy recruiter in Peterborough, even though the office only opened in early 2006," said Tristan.

"This division is being continually enhanced, however, to stay at the forefront of what we do. The most recent was to recruit a dedicated public practice and public sector specialist to work purely within this arena.

"We are fortunate to work with the majority of the large employers around Peterborough, in many cases acting as their preferred supplier."

The office appointments division was born in December 2007, and has four staff.

It was largely formed by client feedback, requests to fill office-based but non-accountancy roles.