A review of the UK in-house tax market so far in 2019

“What is the market like?” The million-dollar recruitment question! This time of year, both our candidates and clients are keen to understand the landscape of the in-house tax recruitment market in order to determine whether or not to commence with a recruitment project or to make a career move.

The in-house tax recruitment market is buoyant and this year has kicked off with a number of broad in-house tax roles. In comparison to the start of last year, we have seen growth in a number of roles we are receiving. Given the shortage of appropriate candidates at the NQ-5 years’ experience level, as well as the fact that the Big Four are working hard to retain their talent, salaries have continued to outstrip experience.

Demand has been strong at all levels, though predictably the core market from £45,000 to £70,000 is where we have been the busiest. Within this bracket, it is not uncommon for candidates to receive multiple offers and counter-offers from their current employer.

The burden of compliance and complex regulation remains an issue for our clients and we are seeing a lot of investment within this area to offset pressure from financial authorities and prevent unnecessary reputational risk. Whilst recruitment within the banking sector has slowed, the trend of recruiting newly qualified tax candidates to cover compliance-focused roles is one that we have seen across the in-house market. Interestingly, the difficulty of persuading Big 4 candidates to step away from advisory work means that businesses are increasingly looking to candidates who have trained in Top 10/Top 20 firms or started out within in-house to fill these vacancies. 

With Brexit all over the news and still on everyone’s mind, there is some uncertainty within the market. However, regardless of the outcome, we are expecting a strong 2019.

If you are interested in discussing the in-house market or would like to chat about your next steps, please contact Michael Johnson.