Two City of London headhunters have become the latest in their peer group to merge as recruitment agencies serving the UK capital’s financial services sector look for ways to tackle the impact of the market downturn – just as signs emerge of an end to the hiring freeze at banks and asset managers.

GRS Group, which specialises in director level placements in risk, audit and compliance, and Kinsey Allen Consulting, which focuses on placing front office staff, announced earlier this week that they would merge.