The Wire... An Introduction

The Wire... An Introduction

London, 6th October 2011

by James Rodgers

Despite current wider adverse macro economic conditions the Tax Recruitment Market both in London and Internationally is in "reasonable shape" all things considered, with good level amounts of activity in most sectors. This was particularly evident in Q1, Q2 and early Q3 of 2011 where the Profession (Big 4 notably) and the "bulge bracket" banks were hiring at a variety of levels both strategically and to bolster teams in volumes not seen since the collapse of Lehman's. The Commerce and Industry sector broadly has been slower to bounce back but is now enjoying increased levels of recruitment again at most levels (possibly with the exception of the Head of Tax level). Indeed, throughout this period there has been a consistent demand for specialist Tax Professionals in Transfer Pricing, VAT and Expat Tax for example and we can see this continuing till the end of the year and into 2012.

However, we are seeing a "cooling off" period now particularly in the Profession and FS given the current state of the U.S. economy, the "eurozone" debt crisis and the overall adverse effect this is having on the markets generally. Confidence is waning and as always recruitment is one of the first sectors to be hit despite more and more business posting good profits both as a result of increasing revenues but also from achieving greater efficiencies over the last three years.

Nevertheless, Maven Partners has continued to grow throughout 2011, with eleven Mavens now on board and more in the pipeline! Each person in our business adds something unique to the culture and with every new hire our culture continues to evolve positively. However, as with any good team there are common characteristics and ideals that run through the heart of it. In our case, a passion for our work, a desire to achieve the best results, innovative and creative methods, sharing exceptional knowledge and experience, all managed in a culture of absolute integrity and transparacy. Nothing overly new about this some might say but we stand by these principles and deliver on them!

Indeed, in sharing our knowledge and experience, we wanted to bring our client and candidate base to our views on what is happening in the market in terms of trends, individual moves, general conditions and some interesting "tit bits" of info as well.

In next months "The Wire":

• Key moves in the Profession and "In House"
• Is the interim market slowing as confidence returns further to hire permanent staff?
• The hardest Crossword in the world!

Contact details:

James Rodgers ASSOCIATE PARTNER
t +44 (0) 20 3178 8852
m +44 (0) 7841 801 401