Quarterly Market Update - October 2015
Quarterly Market Update - October 2015
Welcome to our latest Legal Accounts Quarterly Market Update, covering July to September 2015.
Whilst the summer period of 2015 did see a marginal slow down in demand for staff within the legal accounts niche in comparison to the first half of the year, there was still a regular flow of new vacancies coming through week by week across a broad range of disciplines and seniority levels. Experienced Finance Systems specialists are increasingly in high demand, particularly at senior levels and we continue to see positive signs of growth with additional headcount requirements arising at both large and SME law firms.
We are pleased to see a growing appetite from our clients for exclusive instructions, resulting in more efficient hiring processes and significant savings of time. If you would like to discuss the benefits of using a sole supplier, please feel free to get in touch any time.
Areas in highest demand:
Senior Finance Systems
Partnership Accountants
Revenue Controllers
Legal Billers
Areas in short supply
Finance Systems Analysts
Revenue Controllers
Partnership Accountants
Temporary Legal Billers
Year on Year growth in number of vacancy instructions received during Q3 period: +14%
Key highlights from REC/KPMG produced ‘Report on Jobs’ (October ‘15):
- -The rate of growth for permanent appointments eased to a 26 month low
- -Accounting saw the highest level of demand by discipline in September, ahead of Nursing/Medical Care
- -Availability of permanent staff continued to decline, with the sharpest rate in the Midlands
- -Availability of temporary and interim staff was in the steepest level of decline in London
2.9% annual growth of employee earnings in the three months to July
3.4% in the private sector
*data from the Office for National Statistics
Successful appointments we have made during the Q3 period include:
- EMEA Head of Accounting
- Finance Systems Manager
- Senior Systems Accountant
- Commercial Finance Analyst
- Partnership Accountant
- Revenue Controller
- Senior Financial Accountant
Views from the team:
“Whilst the UK-wide statistics have shown long term decline in availability for potential staff, our experience within the legal accounts division lately is quite the opposite, for permanent vacancies at least. There are always areas of short supply in such a niche field, but across the accounting spectrum we are seeing a healthy level of interest from our contacts who are ready to take on a fresh challenge when the right opportunity arises, particularly at senior levels.”
Richard Hooper
“There are always peaks and troughs in demand for certain disciplines, and for the more specialist positions such as Partnership Accounting and Finance Systems it only takes a couple of moves to create a chain reaction with demand ongoing for a period of months. This has certainly been the case for these areas recently, and helps to dictate where we apportion a sufficient amount of our time in researching and proactively sourcing potential talent, so we are ready to move quickly when future requirements arise.”
Daniel Cumberworth
“Over recent months we’ve seen a real increase in firms investing in junior and entry level finance staff. A positive sign of growth and it’s encouraging to see more and more people entering a career in legal accounts, which has many rewards and great long term development opportunity. Whilst it may, on the face of it, seem easier to source appropriate candidates without the usual requirement of previous legal accounting experience, the real challenge lies in identifying those with the right attitude and attributes to succeed and, crucially, to enjoy working in this niche field.”
John Carleton
Balance News:
Business Services & Practice Management – Senior Appointments
Over the past 12 months, we have been developing and redefining our sector focus within Balance Recruitment. Whilst you will be aware we have a long standing Legal Accounts & Finance Systems specialism, you may not yet be aware that we are also focusing on senior appointments across a broader range of business services disciplines and for operational leadership/practice management level positions.
John Skillern, Senior Consultant, is working alongside Richard Hooper, with the support of a dedicated Researcher/Resourcer in providing a search-led solution for senior appointments which may have a wide managerial remit (e.g. Practice Manager/COO) or for senior/leadership roles within a specific business services category (e.g. Head of BD & Marketing, HR Director, Head of Risk & Compliance).
If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact John or Richard any time, and we would of course appreciate any introductions/recommendations to any peers/colleagues across other business services disciplines.