StepStone Positioned in the Leader Quadrant of Gartner's 2006 e-Recruitment Software Report

Business Wire, Dec 5, 2006

LONDON -- StepStone, a provider of e-recruitment services and software, today announced it is the only European-headquartered vendor to be positioned in the 'leaders' quadrant in Gartner, Inc's "Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software, 2006" report1.

According to Gartner, an independent research firm, 'leaders' are vendors that are performing well; have a clear vision of market direction; and are actively seeking competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market.

"Placement in the 'leaders' quadrant is hugely exciting and a validation of our commitment to delivering technology and services that help some of the world's leading multinationals to find, recruit and retain the best available talent. It's also testimony to the work of our talented team and their passion and drive," said Colin Tenwick, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone.

"By providing a comprehensive range of products and services that support each stage of the process from attraction through to recruitment and on-boarding, we offer an end-to-end e-recruitment solution that is unmatched in the marketplace. Our pan-European heritage also ensures that we possess the unique insight to help global organisations navigate the complexities of cross-border recruitment."

StepStone provides recruitment software and associated consultancy as well as a network of public job boards throughout Europe. StepStone's i-GRasp underpins each part of the recruitment process for large and global organisations, from job posting, through to candidate application, screening and selection, of both temporary and contract workers. StepStone's EasyCruit automates online recruitment for small and medium-sized businesses and can be launched within 24 hours of purchase. EasyCruit functionality includes the online publication of vacancies, application management and the provision of an internal company CV database.

StepStone's Solutions business has more than 500 clients globally and its e-recruitment solutions are produced in 10 languages. Multinational customers include Virgin Atlantic, Louis Vuitton, Verizon, Marriott, AstraZeneca, Cadbury Schweppes and Amazon.

Note to Editors

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted November 28, 2006, by Gartner, Inc. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the 'Leaders' quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About StepStone

StepStone was founded in Norway in 1996 and pioneered the development of online recruitment in Europe. Today StepStone is Europe's leading provider of online recruitment services and solutions. StepStone's public career sites cover 13 European countries, providing high-quality candidates to recruiters quickly and effectively through individually focused campaigns. StepStone's recruitment solutions allow customers to operate their own private career sites, covering both external and internal candidates. Thousands of companies, including Carlsberg, IKEA, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Toyota Motor Europe, Irish Life & Permanent, Whirlpool Corporation, Levi Strauss, Bertelsmann, KLM, Manpower, Vedior, Telecom Italia and KPMG, use StepStone's products and services to help them recruit qualified staff across Europe. For more information see www.stepstone.com.

1 Gartner, Inc., "Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software, 2006," by James Holincheck, 28 November 2006.