eFinancialCareers

As Scots plans for a local income tax steam ahead, recruiters have begun warning of the dire effect it could have on jobs. One recruiter says the tax proposals, introduced by the SNP as a replacement for council tax, will spell the death of Scotland’s financial services industry. William Finlayson of Scottish search firm Finlayson Wagner Black agrees: “People would think twice about taking up opportunities. The pool of talent... Read more

Rogue traders and vagabonds yesterday looked to profit by spreading vicious lies about Scotland’s own HBOS. But are things that rosy north of the border? After rumours circulated yesterday about a “liquidity crisis” at Britain’s biggest mortgage lender and Scotland’s second largest bank, HBOS, its share price plummeted by nearly 17%, to a record low of 398p. This wiped £3bn off its market value in one foul swoop. It turned out it... Read more

Scotland’s about to be ravaged by a new breed of global competitor. An ill-prepared and under-qualified workforce won’t do it any favours. At a briefing organised by Scottish Financial Enterprise, Trevor Hatton, managing director, Scotland, at Accenture, peered into his crystal ball to paint a picture of financial services north of the border in 2018. Out of the mists he saw new threats appearing from emerging markets like Dubai, Poland, Mexico... Read more

Contractors in Scotland may be forced to bite the bullet as financial services firms look to cut back on temps. The temp market has been booming in Scotland over the last year, as soaring headcount requirements and limited talent have forced companies to fill the gaps with contractors. Rates have soared from £250-£300 a day to £350-£400, according to recruiters, which might be the reason the party looks set to end. Steve Shields,... Read more

Plans for a local income tax in Scotland could discourage quality candidates from making the move north of the border. Owen Kelly, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise – which is backed by such financial powerhouses as Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life – has told the Scotsman that Government plans for local income tax are troubling his members. He said: “Anything that starts to look like we have people... Read more

The mysterious world of contracts for difference trading and spread betting has hit Scotland, so what does it take to enter the industry? What is it? Though the CFD market has boomed since its emergence in the early 1990s, to the point where it now accounts for a third of the UK’s share trading activity, there’s still confusion about what it actually entails. Essentially, it allows you to take a position... Read more

Forget the difficulty in finding the people for financial services jobs, Scotland might struggle to find offices to put them in. Property consultant Jones Lang Lasalle has warned that Edinburgh faces a shortage of office space, but it seems it’s not just space in the Scottish capital that’s in short supply. Scotland is fast becoming the region of choice for back-office roles. Citigroup employs around 235 people in Edinburgh, BNP Paribas... Read more

Education, education, education. The skills shortage in the Scottish financial services market has prompted action at a grass roots level, and its targets are getting younger. The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland (CIOBS) offers a Certificate in Financial Services in schools, which looks to fast-track pupils into a financial career and is now on its second intake of students. The class of 2006 were the guinea pigs, but last year... Read more

What will be hot and what will not in the coming 12 months? Here’s our verdict… 2008 will be a good year for… Corporate finance The bare statistics don’t make comforting reading. Preliminary figures from insider.co.uk suggest Scottish-only corporate finance deals were a mere £1.44bn in the third quarter of 2007 – down from £5bn for the same period in 2006. However, while the mid-market may have suffered, corporate finance professionals remain convinced that... Read more

What was hot and what was not in Scotland in 2007? Here’s our considered verdict… 2007 was a good year for… Fund management Fund managers in Scotland were defiantly bullish this year: the battle for talent intensified, top names engaged in a game of musical chairs, and profits and revenues increased. Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), for example, lost its chief executive John Phillips in January, and its head of European equities went to... Read more

In Scotland’s candidate-driven market, is it time to speed up the recruitment process or risk missing out on talent? The typical recruitment process in financial services firms takes at least six weeks, during which time candidates can easily have multiple offers on the table. Existing employers are also likely to counter-offer in a bid to hold on to scarce talent, say recruiters. Fraser McMillan, senior consultant at Robert Half, says: “We don’t... Read more