Home / News Articles
Quarterly Market Update Q2 2017 14-Jul-17Our 'Quarterly Market Update' for Q2 2017 is available for you to download. Read up on key recruitment trends and obtain an insight into the Legal Accounts & Finance Systems market. Our team also share their views on current hiring conditions and what we can expect over the summer months. Please do let us know if you would like a copy emailed to you! Click here to read our review...
Quarterly Market Update Q1 2017 12-May-17We've given our 'Quarterly Market Update' a slight refresh - click on the image below to view. Here's our Q1 2017 full report on key recruitment trends and an insight into the Legal Accounts & Finance Systems market including areas in high demand or short supply. Our team also share their views on current hiring conditions and what we can expect over the coming months. Please do let us know if you would like a copy emailed to you!...
Balance are finalists! 08-May-17We're excited to announce that Balance has been shortlisted in not one, but TWO categories, in the 2017 Global Recruiter Awards. We're finalists for the following awards: Best Specialist Recruitment Business Best Permanent Consultant - Richard Hooper The team are thrilled to have reached the finals in these categories and are proud to be recognised in these highly competitive categories for all their hard work and effort. For the past eight years, The Global Recruiter Awards has recognised and celebrated the best of the best in the recruitment industry. A select panel of judges were drawn from the leading edge of today’s recruitment industry to pool their thoughts and consider all the entries before making their final decisions on the shortlist. The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony in London’s Cafe de Paris on 29th of June 2017. Congratulations to all those shortlisted and we wish you all the best of luck! ...
We've been shortlisted! 27-Feb-17Balance are delighted to share this amazing news with all our clients, candidates, followers and friends. We have been shortlisted in the prestigious Recruiter Awards 2017 for Recruitment Agency Of The Year! These awards are respected as the benchmark within the recruitment industry and profession and it’s fantastic to be recognised for all our hard work, innovation and commitment and let’s not forget what a brilliant team we have at Balance. Looking forward to the ceremony in May – watch this space! ...
How does your salary compare? 13-Feb-17Our eagerly anticipated (now award winning!) Legal Accounts Salary Survey is back for 2017 and we need to ask for your assistance to help us compile the most comprehensive salary survey available for those working within the accounts departments of Law Firms across the country. Last years survey showed another year of growth in the percentage of respondents who received a pay increase in the previous 12 months – for the fifth consecutive year. Will this max out at 74%, or will we see this trend improve even further? Key to the success and accuracy of the survey is collating enough data from across the country and we are therefore extremely eager to encourage participation from all regions – we had a good increase in response from Wales and those in Northern England last year, but we’d still love to see more, so please do get involved wherever you are. If you’re taking part, why not encourage your colleagues past and present to get involved too, and if you manage a team, you can also enter salary information for other positions within your firm. The survey is 100% confidential and takes only 1-2 minutes to complete. As an added incentive, participants in this year’s survey have the option to enter a prize draw to win an iPad mini. Click here to complete the survey now........
Quarterly Marketing Update and a look to the year ahead... 06-Feb-17Download your PDF version here. Welcome to our latest Legal Accounts Quarterly Market Update, covering October to December 2016. The final quarter of 2016 saw an anticipated increase in activity following a sluggish Q3 period, with a steady flow of vacancies reaching our Legal Accounts division, right up until the Christmas week, with many processes carrying over to the start of 2017. Whilst the high profile demise of KWM will have sent uncertainty and anxiety through the market, we have spoken with many firms who’re scaling up their business services functions to cope with highly ambitious growth plans, and have also seen a healthy amount of churn in the market with line managers generally having little difficulty replacing leavers and in many cases signing off headcount increases. Finance Systems implementation projects and increasing demands on the output of existing finance systems resources has continued to pick up pace, placing ever more strain on the supply and demand challenge for Finance Systems Managers as they compete for a finite pool of experienced talent, with rising expectations of their remuneration levels. Looking ahead, we’re anticipating 2017 hiring activity to remain stable and reflective of the trends seen in 2016, with no significant rise or fall in demand. Merger activity will fluctuate the availability of candidates throughout the year, but with a lack of investment in trainee/apprentice level staff over recent years from across the Top 100 firms and beyond, hiring for experienced legal accounts teams will remain challenging. With a stable team here in our Legal Accounts division, and investment in additional resourcing capabilities we are geared up for the challenge however, and look forward to another successful year ahead! Areas in highest demand: eBilling Analysts Management Accountants Finance Systems Analysts Finance Systems Developers Legal Billers Accounts/Finance Managers Areas in short supply eBilling Analysts Senior Financial Accountants Finance Systems Developers Finance Systems Analysts Legal Billers Partnership Accountants Year on Year comparison in number of vacancy instructions received by our Legal Accounts team during Q4 period: < 6% Year on Year comparison in the number of vacancy instructions received by our Legal Accounts team during 2016: < 6% Year on Year comparison in the number of appointments made by our Legal Accounts team during 2016: > 13% Key highlights from the APSCo produced ‘Professional Recruitment Trends’ survey (December 2016): The total permanent appointments (all industries) across the UK showed growth of > 2% year on year Demand for permanent Finance staff across the UK showed growth of > 1% year on year Demand for temporary Finance staff across the UK fell by < 7% year on year Key highlights from the Office for National Statistics reviewing the three months to November 2016 UK unemployment fell to its lowest level for more ...
Is January a good time to search for a new job? 05-Jan-17There’s a simple answer to this question which is: Yes However, there’s also a longer answer which is: Yes, and so is February, March, April etc… through to (and including) December Common belief is that the best time of year to be looking for a new job is after the New Year, when people have resolutions to uphold and the job market kicks off after a lull. ‘New Year, New Career’ is a corny cliché that will be trumpeted by recruiters up and down the land in January. I’d agree that this is definitely a good time to look, but in reality, with the exception of the week either side of Christmas, I don’t believe there’s ever really a bad time to be looking. There will be some disciplines and industries that have well defined seasonal peaks and troughs, but if you work in a core business support or operational function such as Accounting, Marketing, HR, IT or suchlike, the majority of employers manage to keep you busy all year round, and therefore if you decide to find a new job elsewhere, to immigrate or retire, they’re going to need to replace you fairly quickly. In a niche market, certain roles will from time to time have unpredictable surges of activity in the job market. For example, if just two or three Chief Legal Cashier vacancies arise in close proximity, this area will likely see a flurry of activity for a few months whilst people move around the industry leaving vacancies behind them. This could happen at any time during the year. Generally, if you have reached the point where you feel you need to start looking for new opportunities, right then is your best time to start the search, regardless of what month we are in. Your ideal next job can arise at any given time, but if you’re not looking because you’re waiting for a perceived busy period, you might never even know about it. Even better still is to establish contact with an experienced recruiter who knows your specialist area and who can help to identify your next step on the career ladder even before you’ve started to look....
Balance Quarterly Market Update 01-Nov-16Quarterly Market Update -Q3 Welcome to our latest Legal Accounts Quarterly Market Update, covering July to September 2016. The Q3 period is a hard one in which to measure market confidence in the recruitment calendar. The holiday season inevitably has a strong influence on a firm’s willingness to begin a hiring process and certainly on its ability to efficiently coordinate a timely schedule of interviews. This year however, there has been uncertainty surrounding Brexit, so just what impact has this had so far on hiring within the Legal Accounts niche? It’s hard to be too certain on what the causal factors were, and scheduling interviews during the holiday inevitably means delays, but there was a clear slowdown in decision making around hiring across the legal sector. In some cases, hiring processes would nearly grind to a halt altogether before eventually a decision was made. Whilst we do not wish to talk up the impact Brexit has had on the market, it would be foolish to deny it has led to nervousness at certain firms. There has certainly been no panicking though - year on year demand for staff over the Q3 period remained almost exactly the same as in 2015, with only 1 less instruction received by our Legal Accounts division this year. There have also been many examples of headcount increases and introduction of newly created positions at firms both large and small, an encouraging sign of confidence. The legal sector has also proven to be very resilient through recent challenging periods in the economy, with law firms making significant progress during the last 5 years in becoming leaner, more efficiently managed and commercially driven businesses. Areas in highest demand: Financial Controllers Finance Managers Revenue Controllers Pricing Analysts Legal Billers eBilling Analysts Areas in short supply: Financial/Group Accountants Finance Systems Analysts Partnership Accountants Pricing Analysts Year on Year comparison in number of vacancy instructions received during Q3 period: - / - Key highlights from the APSCo produced ‘Professional Recruitment Trends’ survey (September 2016): Demand for permanent finance staff (all industries) across the UK showed growth of 5% year on year Permanent placements of finance staff across the UK showed the first negative in two years at -0.8% Temporary placements of finance staff across the UK grew by 4.4% Successful appointments we have made during the Q3 period include: Financial Controller Finance Manager Finance Systems Manager Senior Revenue Controller Financial Analyst Revenue Controller Billing & Collections Specialist Billing Specialist E-Billing Coordinator Senior Credit Controller Finance Coordinator + many more “It’s proven to be difficult to pin down any tangible hiring trends in the legal accounts and finance systems market over the last few months, with the instructions we’ve had through covering a good mix of ...
Kath is a finalist! 07-Oct-16Kath Reynolds from Balance Recruitment is a finalist in the Best Business Women Awards 2016. The Best Business Women Awards have announced their finalists for 2016. The business world is full of talented and dedicated female entrepreneurs who not only run successful businesses but in many cases also juggle the needs of their families. The Best Business Women Awards are designed to recognise the achievement of those women across a wide range of business categories and is open to any female business owner UK wide. Kath Reynolds from Balance Recruitment has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Best Business Woman in Recruitment category. Balance Recruitment is an award-winning legal sector specialist recruitment firm, with a thriving UK and International client base. Debbie Gilbert, organiser of The Best Business Women Awards said “We were delighted with the number of entries this year, which came in from all over the UK. This is a tough competition judged by business experts. To be a finalist is a major achievement. Finalists have been selected for their business acumen, determination, creativity and tenacity. Over 80% of start-ups fail in the first 3 years and all our finalists are all shining examples of being successful entrepreneurs who have proved their success to our judges.” Kath Reynolds, Director of Balance Recruitment said “I am delighted to have been shortlisted for the Best Business Woman in Recruitment 2016 award. I entered these awards on behalf of Balance. I want to showcase the company that I am so proudly a part of and built from scratch. I also strongly believe that women need to be recognised in business and want Balance to be recognised for a business award outside of our industry awards.” The gala final of The Best Business Women Awards will be held on 20th October 2016 at Tewin Bury Farm, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, the winners will be announced at the final....
Balance further expand their business services offering 04-Aug-16August, 2016 Balance Recruitment appoints Senior Consultant, Michelle Church, in further expansion of their Business Services offering to law firm clients. Michelle has been successfully recruiting for law firms for the last 15 years and has now joined the business to further develop the Human Resources and Business Support divisions. Established in 2008, Balance is an independent multi award-winning Business Services recruitment search consultancy, with a demonstrable track record of delivery, representing a large number and wide variety of UK and international law firms with offices in the City of London and Hertford. The team hold a combined 60+ years’ experience working and recruiting within the legal sector, and offer a highly proactive, thorough, search-based approach to identifying individuals, with a strong network across finance, risk & compliance, HR, systems, business development & marketing, and project & programme management. Richard Hooper, Director of Balance Recruitment, commented: “We’re thrilled to welcome Michelle to the team. She is a seasoned professional recruiter with an in depth knowledge of our specialist market and service-driven, proactive approach with greatly complements our existing team. We have seen great demand from our clients since expanding from recruiting purely for finance staff, to now supporting them right across their business services functions”....
Upload your CV
If you'd like to be considered for opportunities with our clients, why not upload your latest CV with contact details here.
This website uses cookies. Read our cookie policy for more information. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
