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Latitude insists that it has hired more staff than have departed in the last six months and that it has won accounts, as well as losing clients.

Staff departures include business development director Rodney Rees Jones, who has joined Search Logic as business development consultant, and Peter Revell, previously sales and marketing coordinator at Latitude, who has left to join Spannerworks in a senior sales position. Account manager Emma Leung has also left the agency.

Totaljobs is believed to be taking its search business in-house. The company runs websites including Totaljobs.com, Retailchoice.com and CWJobs.co.uk, operating in the competitive employment sector. Yes Insurance, the sister company of Provident Insurance, has hired digital agency TBG London to handle its search account.

A spokesman for Latitude pointed out that the agency won Haven Holidays' search engine optimisation account in June and said the agency couldn't talk about further wins due to client confidentiality.

He added: "It would seem strange for a company not to lose clients. That's the nature of a competitive market. We'd like to think any clients who have left recently will consider coming back.

"We've had people leave recently, but none that I would call redundancies. Some have left in the last six months, but more have joined."

Last month, Latitude hired Phil MacKechnie, previously of e-commerce agency MAD Productions, to head its new natural search division Latitude Organic.

Meanwhile, Latitude is being mooted as the next search provider likely to be snapped up in an active takeover and mergers market.

The Search Works, along with sister firm The Technology Works, and Spannerworks have both been bought this year for £56m and £9m respectively, and last December digital agency Global Media merged with search specialist Bigmouthmedia in a deal worth an estimated £40m.

Latitude is one of the biggest search firms in the UK and recorded a turnover of £26.7m in the year to December 2006.