eFinancialCareers

With the number of firms falling by the wayside in Scotland only likely to increase, accountants specialising in insolvencies are beefing up teams to deal with the expected influx of business. As more companies collapse, this means more work for insolvency experts and, though the tidal wave has yet to hit, accountancy firms are gearing up for it. KPMG in Glasgow says it has plans to increase headcount in this sector by... Read more

After the flurry of corporate finance deals in Scotland in the lead up to the implementation of the capital gains tax changes, transactions have slowed. But accountancy firms north of the border continue to bolster their advisory teams. Grant Thornton expanded its corporate finance team this week, with the appointment of Scott Langlands and David Sloan, along with announcing a series of promotions in that division. Similarly, Graeme Smith was... Read more

Quietly booming in the Granite City of Aberdeen is the oil and gas industry. And guess what? It’s desperate for qualified accountants, who have seen double digit pay rises over the last 12 months. A study by Hays Senior Finance reveals that the opportunities for financial professionals in Scotland’s burgeoning oil and gas sector far outstrips the number of people willing to make the move to Aberdeen, which is driving... Read more

Scotland’s accountants have had a bumper 12 months, aided by Alistair Darling's capital gains tax (CGT), but firms still face one stumbling block on the path to growth – a lack of qualified staff. Darling’s CGT proposals mean owners of businesses are trying to sell them and cash in before the new taxes are levied. This means that businesses are being sold which in turn means there's work for corporate... Read more

Scotland, quite simply, can’t get enough accountants, and is looking to more and more exotic locales to attract talent. Poland, which has long been touted as the answer to the UK’s employee shortfall, is predictably on the list. However, Scottish firms are also turning to Australia, New Zealand, Russia, mainland Europe and Africa. Chiene + Tait, an Edinburgh-based accountancy firm, says it’s been forced to look overseas for candidates in... Read more

Financial services professionals are no longer the most in demand in Scotland, but recruiters insist the market is as active as ever. The Bank of Scotland Labour Market Report acts as a barometer of employment in the country, and shows that the number of financial services jobs in Scotland fell slightly in May. In February, accounting and finance had the largest number of vacancies in Scotland. Now the sector ranks... Read more

As Scotland bids for independence from the rest of the UK, there’s the suggestion that its financial services sector could lose out. Global Financial Services Week (GFSW) looks to highlight Scotland’s importance as a financial centre, and the cabinet secretary for finance, John Swinney, took the opportunity to attempt to assuage fears that an independent Scotland could undermine the industry. He said: “We would have to take decisions about the way in... Read more

Scotland’s back-office roles continue to outstrip supply and salaries have surged by over 11% over the last year. While in London financial services professionals quake in their boots over job security, candidates in Scotland are in control of their own destiny and have enjoyed a pay rise of 11.4%, according to a study by recruiters Joslin Rowe. Joslin Rowe focuses on back and middle-office roles, such as investment operations – the... Read more

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

Scottish financial firms are still looking to increase headcount this year, but seasoned professionals remain thin on the ground. An eFinancialCareers survey in conjunction with Scottish Financial Enterprise polled companies working in asset management, accounting, fund administration and insurance in Scotland. The good news for financial services employees is that of 15 large Scottish financial services firms that responded, 67% intend to bolster headcount this year. The bad news is that... 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

Confidence in financial services recruitment in Scotland has dipped back to the dark days of post-9/11, but some areas could see double-digit pay rises. Accountants, settlements professionals and those in investment operations, will be in the money to the tune of 15-20% more this year, according to research from recruiters Joslin Rowe and Scottish Enterprise. The reason for the surge in salaries is simply a matter of supply and demand,... 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

The proliferation of fund accounting jobs in Scotland is creating a fluid recruitment environment where people are skipping speedily from one job to the next. The past year has seen expansions by BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, State Street, Citi, and BlackRock in the fund accounting space in Scotland, and difficulty finding candidates – together with candidates’ own realisation of their worth – has created a revolving door effect. “Everybody’s recruiting and retention... Read more

Insurance underwriters in Scotland have seen big salary hikes in the last year, as a shortage of candidates drives demand. The latest salary survey by recruiter Joslin Rowe paints a different picture from last year, when broker mergers meant insurers were more likely to lose their jobs than land a large pay rise. But with new firms setting up in Scotland this year – such as Ace Insurance which created 200 jobs... Read more