Her background in banking helped the agency to build a strong portfolio of clients in the financial sector and DPSS quickly became one of the leading players in the IT recruitment market.
The agency remained highly successful throughout the 80s, expanding to open offices in Manchester and New York, before it was acquired by Blue Arrow Plc for £3m in 1987.
During 1988, Cristina developed the idea of holding recruitment fairs and her RecruIT and Contractor Show events became standard features in the IT calendar over the next three years.
Following the 90s recession Cristina re-established RecruIT with the main event held in London twice a year, plus regional events in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh.
In 1993 she launched REX, the first interactive online publication for IT recruitment, offering instant advertising of job opportunities. Recruitment EXchange was listed on OFEX in 1996 and moved up to AIM in 1999 with a market cap of £8m.
Cristina's experience and high profile have constantly generated approaches from agency owners on how to sell out, merge or acquire funding to develop their businesses and from those wanting to start their own agency ventures.
