Under the Radar/Approach People: Last Sunday Irish-based French businessman John Murat spent three hours queuing at the French embassy in Dublin to cast his vote in the presidential election - a ballot that is seen as pivotal in lifting France out of its economic malaise.

"Even if we are not there, we want our say," he says. "We see France differently than people who are there because people there see all the problems of the economy - here we see all the solutions."

Ironically, it was that very economic stagnation that helped to lead Murat and fellow Frenchman Laurent Girard-Claudon to set up their own recruitment firm in Dublin, which specialises in placing French people in jobs here.

Weak growth and high unemployment has led many of France's best and brightest to move abroad over the past number of years in search of better opportunities and Ireland, with its large base of multinational companies, is one of the countries to which they are coming.

Murat and Girard-Claudon spotted a niche to set up a company helping to place many of these ambitious, highly qualified people in the right jobs. They established Approach People Recruitment in 2000, when both were in their early 20s.

Until then, many recruitment firms were hiring people for their language abilities rather than any other skills, according to Murat.

"Multilingual people weren't really interviewed properly; they weren't prepared properly, so they were just wanted for their language skills and nothing more. We saw a niche for a recruitment agency that would specialise in skills as well as language.

"We could help companies find skills for their jobs - in software engineering, technical support, customer service or sales, whereas initially those companies were just hiring whoever could speak the language."

The men's paths crossed in Ireland after they arrived here for very different reasons.

Murat, who arrived in 1995, was just looking for a change. He spent his first few years working in pubs in the city but, with a background in sales, he wanted to get back into an office environment. He ended up in recruitment company Marlborough.

"The company was not going that well and I always wanted to start a company. I met up with Laurent and decided to set up Approach People."

Girard-Claudon, who moved to Dublin when the accountancy finance firm for which he worked in Paris relocated its operations to Ireland, was surprised and motivated by the business climate here compared to France.

"It was not my plan to come here and live forever but when I arrived here, I saw the strength of the economy and the dynamism of the Irish people. Compared to Paris it was a surprise - it was very open-minded," he says.

"For business it was amazing. I was only 23 when I started the company. In France, I would have been judged as too young or too inexperienced, but here it was no problem. Irish people have trust in their youth and their future. In France maybe people are more conservative and they are afraid of change a bit."

He says the attitude of banks and State bodies such as the Revenue made it very easy to get started. "They were happy to talk to us and trust in us. I always wanted to have my own business and this was the opportunity to start."

Since then, the company has grown steadily, serving multinationals such as Apple, Dell, IBM and Hertz. Last year, it had turnover of €1.3 million and moved into new offices in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Since then, it has expanded rapidly, increasing staff numbers from five to 14. The company is planning to hire four more recruiters in the coming weeks.

Approach People registers about 200 new candidates each week and currently has more than 30,000 primarily French candidates on its database.

The company, which receives 15,000 unique visits to its website every month, is also broadening its reach by targeting other nationalities. It has hired an Italian recruiter and is hoping to hire a second German recruiter soon.

The company is also expanding into other areas. Until now, it has concentrated on recruitment in the white-collar market. In the coming weeks, it is planning to launch a second website to cater for entry-level workers and the hospitality industry.

Its success in Ireland has not gone unnoticed at home. The company is planning to open an office in Paris to cater for queries from French companies for experienced, multilingual staff.

On The Record

Name:Laurent Girard-Claudon

Age:30

From:Paris, France

Most admired person:None

Favourite book:Has a liking for Maeve Binchy's writings

Likes to:Go to his local Paddy Cullen's pub, frequent live music gigs and try new pubs and restaurants.

Name:John Murat

Age:29

From:Lyon, France

Most admired person:Denis O'Brien. When I came to Ireland, he was just starting Digifone and I certainly admire him for the work he has done.

Favourite book:None, but I am an avid reader of French business magazine Capital

Likes to:Play golf and enjoy a nice cigar on the terrace of a pub.