We are seeing a buoyant, candidate driven market in the Thames Valley dominated by an increased appetite for part qualified and newly qualified accountants. Confidence has risen in the economy since the beginning of the year, with the increased competition in the part qualified market reflecting this trend. Clients are still doing as much as they can to retain high potential individuals, with counter offers and ‘buy-backs’ remaining commonplace.
Qualified
The newly qualified market has been relatively buoyant over the past year, with qualified accountants sought after for both technical and commercial finance roles. Strong stakeholder management and communication skills have been key attributes for all positions, as even those with a technical slant have a business partnering element.
Transactional
The transactional market in the Thames Valley was highly competitive last year, with the real sweet spot falling between £20k to £25k. Most candidates are looking for their first study contract and have a few years’ experience behind them. This makes them hot property and enables the candidate to pick and choose from a variety of opportunities, with study support and progression at the top of their wish list.
Specialist Markets
Looking ahead within specialist markets, we expect to see little change in the demand for talent at newly qualified level as this is always high. The demand for the more senior end of the market, however, is already increasing with many senior manager vacancies coming through. This could be because some accountants have been promoted early in order to retain them, and as a result are not quite ready for the senior manager jump.
