The founder and chief executive of Marlborough International, Mr David McKenna, will make a decision in the next six to eight weeks on whether to undertake a management buyout (MBO) of the company. The recruitment business has tightened significantly since Christmas and further job cuts may be on the way.

"From Christmas onwards markets have been very poor and for the foreseeable future we see that continuing," Mr McKenna told the company's annual meeting yesterday. Marlborough cut 75 jobs in Ireland in the last six months and reduced key personnel salaries by 10-15 per cent. "We employ 280 in Ireland and about 400 in total. We have reduced numbers in Ireland by 75 and there is a possibility we will reduce further."

Mr McKenna, who owns 51 per cent of the company, said he was very unhappy with the share price and was actively considering taking the company private.

"We may do an MBO. We are not willing to sit here churning out bad figures year after year and have a share price not worth a damn to anybody." The reason the company floated originally was to give access to funds to allow it to grow. "The day you can't do that is when you have to look at it again and that is what we are doing."

Marlborough floated on the Irish and London stock exchanges in 1997 and traded as high as #5.35 in 1999.

After yesterday's annual meeting in Dublin, which was brief and sparsely attended, the shares were untraded at #0.42 on the Irish stock exchange and 31p sterling in Britain. "An MBO is something we are looking at and, within the next six to eight weeks, we will make a decision on it. We went to market when the times were very good; if we do have to take it out of the market that is what we are going to do."