Jelf slides into interim losses

Consultancy firm Jelf slumped into losses for the half-year and warned the challenging market conditions are unlikely to change this year.Pre-tax losses came in at £1.3m against a profit of £738,000 last year on revenue that grew 40% to £35m. "Market conditions remain extremely difficult and I do not expect that to change this year. Furthermore we have yet to see the benefits of a hardening of insurance rates in the market," said chief executive Alex Alway.Alway added that he expects the economic downturn to continue into next year, which will present fresh challenges to both its clients and the group.