IN MAY 2008, Kerry-born entrepreneur Pat Fitzgerald was ready to take on the world.

His Premier recruitment group had spent about €60 million buying listed UK company Imprint and Fitzgerald had ambitious plans to double the size of the business by 2012.

But Lehman Brothers crashed four months later and all bets were off.

“Our business dropped by over 50 per cent within 12 months from Lehmans,” Fitzgerald told me this week. “That was the trigger. Everything just stopped. Ireland dropped by 65 per cent.

“But we have bounced back. We will grow our fees by over 30 per cent this year .”

Premier is a private unlimited company so financials are not revealed. “We were profitable last year, I’ll put it like that,” Fitzgerald said. “Not very, but profitable. We would expect to be back by 2012 to pre-recession profit levels.”

In hindsight, was the Imprint deal good value?

“Great value,” he says without hesitating. “I say that because we’re now in some of the most exciting markets in the world.

“We’re the largest provider of banking staff in London . . . in South East Asia. We’re a preferred supplier to 22 of the top 25 banks in the world. We’re looking at new opportunities in Europe, at new opportunities in the Americas because these clients are there.

“We’re in a position that we never would have been in as a small Irish business.”

On Wednesday, Premier changed its name to Morgan McKinley, a brand acquired in the Imprint deal and used overseas. It also announced 75 new jobs for its Irish operation, taking numbers here back to pre-recession levels.

Fitzgerald also plans to open in Shanghai, employing 25 staff within a year. “It’s our first move into mainland China. It’s hugely exciting.”