Marlborough International, the Dublin-based recruitment consultancy, has created a separate online company. The announcement failed to move the company's shares on the Dublin Stock Exchange, the equity falling 5 cents to 185 cents

The group plans to spend up to €11.5 million (£9 million) developing fillthejob.com over the next year, according to Mr David McKenna, the company chief executive. The new venture will be a stand alone company and unlike any existing online recruitment site, he said.

Employers will pay a licence fee to advertise vacancies on the site, he said. Marlborough and other third party recruitment agencies will also pay a fee to put forward candidates for jobs and also a commission on any successful placements. Filtering software, that is being patented by fillthejob.com, will ensure that only a small number of suitable candidates are put forward to the client companies, he said. fillthejob.com plans to sign up 300 employers in its first year and should break even, according to Mr McKenna.

Marlborough also unveiled its results for the year to February. Gross fee income rose 46 per cent to £72 million while profit before tax was up 8 per cent to £6.3 million.

Earnings per share rose from 13.04 cents to 14.14 cents. The board has decided not to declare a dividend, in keeping with previous years. The new online venture failed to have any significant effect on the company's share price, reflecting the change in sentiment towards Internet-based operations. "Our timing is probably wrong,' conceded Mr McKenna yesterday. However, he remained optimistic about the company's prospects, forecasting "phenomenal growth in next 12 months".