Brewer Morris Tax Recruitment Market Update & Salary Survey 2012 & 2013

Market update and salary survey2012/2013

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Market update and salary survey 2012/2013

Mark Pryor Partner

Introduction

“Black clouds are advancing over the horizon given the Eurozone crisis, turbulent world stock markets and concerns over the liquidity or indeed solvency of certain countries and their financial institutions.”

2011 Brewer Morris Market Update & Salary Survey

Well the black clouds have certainly come, are big and seem to show few signs of moving on. Inevitably this has created a challenging

environment for tax recruitment, following two great years in 2010 and 2011.

A tightening of corporates’ advisory spend and a reduced need for tax planning & advice has led to a sharp slowdown within the

Big 4 in the UK.

The Tier A firms have fared better given they are not as reliant on the large corporates and banks for work, and indeed a couple have

seen good growth making a number of significant hires. The larger independent firms and niche boutiques continue to do well, with

strong demand for tax professionals with specific skills to increase their service offerings to clients.

The banking sector remains depressed, with the larger tax departments implementing restructurings, although there are some

pockets of recruitment taking place especially in compliance and reporting. The broader financial services sector is holding up, with

steady recruitment in insurance and asset management.

There is still expansion recruitment in the corporate sector, with continued appetite for transfer pricing, VAT, compliance and

reporting tax professionals. Unsurprisingly, in this market the demand for interim and contract tax staff remains high.

There continues to be a healthy appetite for Tax Lawyers from the Law firms, with tax dispute resolution and litigation expertise in

particular demand.

In Europe we are witnessing strong growth in the demand for tax professionals and although hiring in Switzerland has cooled; we

are still seeing steady recruitment in other key economies.

The Middle East is currently seeing substantial levels of recruitment, with the key territories in the Asia Pacific region continuing to

enjoy growth levels far outstripping traditional Western economies.


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Commerce & Industry Tax

Market overview

To date, the tax recruitment market in 2012 has proved to be as

complex and unpredictable as at any time.

Despite the wider macro-economic climate and the challenges

that the majority of our clients face when looking at recruitment

needs, there has continued to be a healthy appetite for those

candidates who are able to illustrate a strong tax compliance

and accounting knowledge and who are able to use these

broad based tax accounting skills in a commercial setting. This

demand has been driven by the continuing compliance demand

placed on tax directors, their teams and businesses.

In the first six months of 2012, we have been involved in eight

Tax Director / Head of Tax recruitment exercises.

In our opinion this is a relatively large number of opportunities

at this level which has been driven by a number of retirements

and changes in senior personnel.

The one area of the market which has proved difficult, is the

mid-level commercial tax market. This has been the traditional

point for many Senior Managers making their first move in-

house to take on international tax roles or even greenfield roles

for smaller organisations. The reduction in the amount of M&A

transactions, refinancing or restructuring has meant that most

tax functions have dealt with this work through using existing

team members.

Looking ahead

With more than 60% of Tax Directors who responded to our

survey looking to grow their tax functions in the next 12

months, there seems to be a positive feel to the market ahead.

With no end in sight to the increase in tax legislation, and the

burden of tax compliance growing, Tax Directors are finding it

easier to secure the headcount that they envisage in this area.

However, visibility in recruitment is difficult at the best of times

and in these times of continuous economic change long-term

predictions become ever more difficult to make.

Salary trends

A detailed questionnaire was sent to all of the key tax clients

who work with Brewer Morris. Almost 95% of all clients who

responded to the survey intend to award a salary increase

to their team this year. Almost 20% are looking to increase

salaries by between 4% to 7% and more than 5% are looking

to give their team an increase in the region of 8% to 10%.

It also seems that the bonus culture is alive and well in the

tax world with more than half of our clients looking to award

bonuses in excess of 20% of base salary.

Benchmarking services

At Brewer Morris we have spent a great deal of time providing

bespoke salary benchmarking services to our clients. This

assists in-house reward teams in understanding how tax

functions operate within the larger finance environments and

ensures that they are rewarded accordingly.

We would be delighted to speak with any clients or individuals

who feel they may benefit from bespoke salary guidance.

For further information about the Commerce & industry tax sector please contact:

Matthew Gravelle PartnerE: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800


FTSE 100

Continuing economic uncertainty has meant that any growth

in the larger tax functions across the FTSE 100 has been both

slow and sporadic according to industry sector. Similar to a

pattern we saw in 2011, many tax professionals have been

dealing with a broader range of tax issues as opposed to new

specialist tax roles being created.

At Senior Manager level there has been a decrease in the

quantity of opportunities, particularly on the international

advisory side. This is mostly due to the fact that in the current

economic climate, most businesses are not in a position to be

signing off on big M&A deals or restructuring work. The majority

of recruitment activity has been at Assistant Manager and

Manager level, largely focussing on compliance and reporting

issues; an area in which we have been surprisingly busy. We

have witnessed an increased demand for tax professionals with

particular specialisms such as indirect tax, transfer pricing and

US taxes. There has also been a reasonable number of senior

level hires being made, predominantly as a result of recent

retirements or indeed succession planning.

Increases in salaries have generally been in line with

standard year-on-year increases, with only a minority of tax

professionals obtaining any significant uplift.

However, many of the bonuses that have been awarded

have been relatively noteworthy. The results of our survey

show that where bonuses are available within a business, tax

professionals’ efforts are being recognised. Those who are not

awarded bonuses or pay rises are typically in organisations

where rewards are less available, primarily due to the nature of

their business and the sector they operate in.

About a third of the FTSE 100 envisage growth in their tax

functions over the next twelve months. Similar to what we

have seen over the last six months, any growth that is forecast

tends to be at the junior level, with a specific emphasis on

compliance and reporting professionals.

For further information about the FTSE 100 market please contact:

Stephen AdamsE: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Title Base Car Allowance Bonus

Head of Tax £120,000 - £230,000 £10,000 - £18,000 20% - 100%

Senior Manager £65,000 - £180,000 £4,500 - £12,000 10% - 100%

Manager £45,000 - £75,000 £4,500 - £5,500 10% - 30%

Tax Accountant £35,000 - £55,000 Up to £2,000 5% - 20%

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FTSE 250

As we move through 2012 we have seen this part of the market

remain particularly active at junior to mid-level, predominantly

in the areas of tax compliance and reporting, where there

has been a strong appetite for candidates in both London

and the regions. This is largely due to an increased focus on

the tightening of internal controls from a tax perspective and

ensuring absolute accuracy in financial statements.

In a continuation of what we have seen over the last few years,

there is still a focus on either bringing tax in-house for the first

time or increasing the amount of tax work carried out internally.

This has the benefit of not only increasing tax visibility within

the business but also reducing spend on external advisors.

There has been activity across a wide spectrum of industry

sectors, including FMCG, manufacturing and engineering. In a

similar fashion to 2011, companies have been steadily lifting

recruitment freezes and with confidence continuing to improve,

candidates have been more active in seeking out opportunities.

It does, however, remain the case that the majority of resourcing

needs have arisen as a result of natural turnover rather than

team expansion.

Remuneration across the FTSE 250 has remained fairly stable

over the last 12 months. Salaries on offer are competitive

at all levels and ensure that good quality candidates remain

attracted to the potential of working for companies with solid

growth prospects in a more varied and well balanced role. Tax

professionals currently ‘in role’ within this sector have seen

salary increases of between 1% - 5% on average over the last

12 months.

For further information about the FTSE 250 market please contact:

Guy WilmotE: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800


Head of Tax £85,000 - £210,000 £5,000 - £12,000 15% - 100%

Senior Manager £70,000 - £115,000 £4,500 - £6,000 10% - 60%

Manager £40,000 - £95,000 £4,500 - £5,500 10% - 30%

Tax Accountant £35,000 - £60,000 Up to £2,500 5% - 15%


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Financial Services

The past year has been mixed in terms of demand for tax

professionals into financial services organisations. With the

Eurozone muddling through each successive crisis, and with

weaker results than in 2009/2010, banks have taken stock

and only hired when absolutely necessary. Fund managers

have tried to keep costs low, so whilst there has been some

recruitment it is still not at the levels we have previously seen.

Insurance groups have done a significant amount of hiring in

the past year which has propped up recruitment within the

financial services market overall.

Despite profit and economic uncertainties, candidates with

strong compliance and accounting experience have continued

to be in high demand. Companies must submit their tax returns

regardless of the economy and as a result, the largest area of

recruitment over the past 12 months has been of corporate

tax compliance professionals. The desire to make forecasting

and reporting more timely and accurate has increased the

demand for tax professionals with strong accounting and

reporting systems experience to ‘beef up’ capability in global

tax reporting and forecasting teams.

We have noticed more roles that have become available in the

UK as a direct result of a change in global tax teams to a ‘hub

and spoke’ model. Within the UK there are now a number of

EMEA or global hubs and this has increased the demand to

recruit in the UK for tax professionals with responsibility for

non-UK regions.

There has been a notable increase in demand for junior tax

professionals across financial services. These candidates will

typically range from Tax Accountants to Tax Managers from

£45,000 to £60,000, who focus on tax compliance and

reporting. Due to the negative media focus on tax planning and

with organisations putting any plans for group re-structuring

or M&A projects on hold until there is more confidence in

the economy there has been a notable decrease in advisory/

planning/structuring roles.

The demand for VAT and transfer pricing professionals has

remained constant and getting sign-off to recruit in either of

these areas has been much less challenging than in some areas.

These taxes have a notable effect on cash-flow and cost control

and have a real impact on net profit before tax, which means it

is much easier to get headcount approval for these roles.

We have seen that salaries are increasing in some areas of the

financial services market, although not at the same rate as

we have seen in previous years. In addition, when people do

change roles, they are not able to command the significant pay

rises that they have in previous roles.

For further information about the Financial Services tax market please contact:

Ben ThrowerE: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Job title Average Salary Bonus

Head of Tax / Managing Director £130,000 + 40% - 100%

Head of Team/Deputy Head of Tax / Director £110,000 + 30% - 80%

Group Tax Manager / Associate Director £90,000 - £130,000 20% - 60%

Tax Manager / Vice President £60,000 - £110,000 10% - 50%

Tax Accountant / Assistant Vice President £45,000 - £60,000 10% - 40%

Tax Assistant / Associate £30,000 - £40,000 0% - 15%


Overseas Multinationals

Despite current economic conditions, foreign owned multi-

nationals have been recruiting steadily across all levels,

specialisms and industries. We have seen a particular demand in

recruiting tax accounting, compliance and reporting candidates

with strong experience in US GAAP, ASC 740 (FIN 48) and

FAS109, reflecting the need for businesses to comply with

increasingly complex legislation and reporting requirements.

Transfer pricing continues to be a key area of recruitment for

overseas multinationals as corporates are keen to reduce costs

by reviewing their transfer pricing policies accordingly. This

year there has been recruitment across all levels from Transfer

Pricing Analysts in media organisations to Senior Transfer Pricing

Managers in financial services. Given the wider economy, this

is a topic that will continue to remain a high priority within

foreign businesses’ tax functions as they look to minimise

profits, and the trends dictate that demand for transfer pricing

professionals candidates will continue to grow.

This year has seen a number of key hires across the UK

including a Head of Tax & Treasury for a Russian owned oil &

gas services company and an EMEA Tax Director for a US media

corporation, amongst others. Given that a large proportion of

overseas multinationals have their EMEA or global headquarters

elsewhere in Europe, there has been a rise in international

tax positions being located in places like Switzerland and

Luxembourg, particularly from Manager grades upwards.

Key sectors that have been recruiting include:

• Electronics

• Oil & gas (services)

• Information technology services

• Pharmaceuticals

• Media

• FMCG

• Manufacturing

In general the recruitment market has been active throughout

2012 with many foreign owned multinationals keen to grow

their tax departments, particularly in the compliance & reporting

and transfer pricing areas. Salaries have generally kept pace

with inflation since 2011 with 60% reporting a raise of up to

5%. 8% of respondees had an 11-20% salary increase, which

represented the highest raises in salary.

For further information about the Foreign Owned Multinationals market please contact:

Cristina BelcherE: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7415 2800


Regional Head of Tax £90,000 – £180,000 £8,000 – £14,000 20% – 100%

Senior Manager £70,000 – £120,000 £6,000 – £9,000 10% – 50%

Manager £50,000 – £70,000 £4,000 – £6,000 5% – 20%

Tax Accountant £30,000 - £45,000 Up to £2,000 0% – 15%

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Commerce rates

Title Range per hour

Head of tax £50 - £150

Senior Tax Manager £40 - £50

Tax Manager £30 - £40

Tax Accountant £20 - £30

Interim Tax Market - Commerce & Industry The interim tax market has remained relatively steady despite

challenging market conditions. There has been relatively little

change in the status quo with regard to transfer pricing, VAT

and partnership taxes specialists. These specialist candidates

are still highly sought after in the interim market. In spite of

the current market climate, candidates in these areas are being

paid above market rate. Many companies are taking advantage

of the increased interim candidate pool by hiring temporary

candidates as a way of trialling staff for a permanent vacancy.

Alternatively, many organisations are still finding that hiring

temporary staff is perfect for completing projects of no fixed

duration whereby the candidate can work on an ongoing month

by month basis. This approach affords greater flexibility to

certain industry sectors and in particular to the manufacturing

and oil & gas sectors.

The main motivating factors as to why candidates are opting for

interim work are as follows:

• You can perform critical and challenging work

• Assignments are matched to skill level, so the work can be

varied and interesting

• The pay is competitive. Companies are still paying well for

temporary tax support especially in tax reporting

• Opportunities are often immediate. Assignments are

frequently created because of an unexpected deadline or

project that the full-time staff simply cannot handle

• It’s a great way to re-enter the job market. Contracting

allows candidates to ease back into the job market and gain

new experience

• Many temporaries are hired after their initial assignment.

Temporary and contract assignments are a great foot in the

door for a potential full-time role

• You often have greater flexibility. Assignments that are

temporary tend to be more flexible when it comes to working

hours, telecommuting and other factors.

Overall there is renewed confidence that the volume of

interim hires will grow due to existing in-house teams being

overstretched, but there is still caution due to budget constraints.

For further information about the Interim tax market please contact:

Mo Hanslod E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800


Interim Tax Market - Financial ServicesIn 2012, tax recruitment within financial services has seen

a promising increase in the number of interim roles being

recruited as permanent headcount restrictions and cost cutting

continue to remain the normality for most businesses.

In 2010 and 2011 there was a reluctance for businesses to

spend budget on hiring interim staff during busy periods and/

or for maternity covers. Although tax teams were already very

busy, the extra workload was absorbed within the team. In

2012 this situation has changed as the requirement for tighter

compliance, reporting and risk controls has led to increased

workload, making short term contract hires to cover corporate

tax compliance & reporting during the usual busy periods an

ideal solution.

Within banking and insurance, there have been several long

term maternity cover hires particularly at the Senior Manager

level and upwards. Additionally, there has also been an increase

in the hiring of temporary tax professionals as a way to provide

extra resource where headcount for a permanent hire is

restricted.

VAT professionals are continually in demand particularly for

specific project work and VAT compliance.

Overall, the calibre of interim tax professionals is very high.

It has become a very competitive market but the same trend

remains that immediately available candidates with solid tax

skills and good references are always snapped up relatively

quickly.

For further information about the Interim tax market please contact:

Yasna KlarinE: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Financial Services rates


Head of Tax £50 - £150

Senior Tax Manager £40 - £50

Tax Manager £30 - £40

Tax Accountant £20 - £30

Practice rates


Tax Senior Managers £40 - £50+

Manager £30 - £35

Tax Senior £20 - £30

Semi Seniors £15 - £20

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Professional ServicesMarket overview

Following a strong end to last year, 2012 began with continued

optimism that the tax recruitment market would follow in the

same vein and indeed the first part of 2012 followed very

much along these lines. However as we moved into the second

quarter it became increasingly clear that this recovery would be

a bumpy one as the economic climate took a turn for the worse.

This led to an inevitable slowdown in some areas particularly

within the larger firms and the Big Four with most of the firms

looking to retain the best of their existing talent. However

there does remain a demand for tax professionals with strong

technical and proven business development skills.

There has been an increased appetite within the mid tier and

independent organisations (which had, until recently, remained

relatively quiet) with recruitment starting to pick up across the

board at all levels with both candidates and firms displaying

increased confidence. Continuing adverse conditions have also

presented some opportunities to specialist boutiques who have

taken the opportunity to take some market share.

The impact of this on the recruitment market has meant that

40% of staff have experienced a pay freeze, an increase

of 37.5% from last year. The good news is that 60% of

respondents received a pay rise, indicating that there are

sectors in the market which are still experiencing growth. Of

those expecting pay rises however over 90% were expecting

a pay rise of between 1-3% with the remainder expecting

between 4-7%.

Over the last 12 months 50% of those questioned for our survey

have seen the size of their tax teams grow with the remaining

50% seeing either no change or a decrease in numbers.

With the continuing Eurozone woes and the return of the

country to recession it is difficult to predict what 2013 holds

for the tax profession. Caution remains in the market but there

are still positive signs that the market is being resilient. 2013

promises to be an interesting year.

For further information about the Professional Services market please contact:

Mark GlubbE: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

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Big 4 & Top 20

Following the steady rise in recruitment levels in 2011, growth

levelled off in the early months of 2012. Although the increasing

uncertainty in the market led to this inevitable slow down of

recruitment in London, pockets of growth continued in certain

specialist tax areas, in particular in expatriate & employment

tax, transfer pricing, tax insolvency, R&D and indirect taxes. The

trend has therefore been to focus on hiring in areas of genuine

growth and profitability. Of special interest is the growth of

R&D recruitment, given the focus by the UK government to

encourage technology developments in the UK following the

budget in April 2012.

A slightly different trend can be seen outside London, where

there has been a pick up in recruitment levels from quarter

four in 2011, in particular in Reading, Bristol and the Midlands.

Recruitment in the regions has mostly been of mainstream

tax professionals, perhaps indicating that the slower London

market has presented some new opportunities for these

regional offices.

Activity in the Top 20 firms has been steady, with recruitment

being centred around replacement or growth in key areas.

Interestingly throughout 2012, a few of the larger Tier A firms

have drawn up challenging growth plans, perhaps making the

most of the relative low profit growth of the Big 4.

With the market being tempered with such uncertainty, it

appears that the focus for firms for the rest of 2012 and going

into 2013 will be on retaining their most talented employees

as well as hiring strategically and recruiting quality talent in

specialist areas of tax.

Although a consistent pattern of recruitment has been difficult

to detect so far this year, in general there seems to be a

cautious optimism that the market will improve towards the

end of 2012 and beginning of 2013.

Partner recruitment remains muted across the market. However,

partners with followings or who can demonstrate a proven

ability to build business remain very marketable but the hiring

process remains rigorous and convoluted. The director market

mirrors that for partners although there are a good number of

signed off mandates particularly in the Top 20 market.

Partner remuneration levels span such a large range according

to firm profitability which makes listing them meaningless.

For a more bespoke view of remuneration at this level please

contact Mark Glubb. The Director bandings reflect base salaries

only as benefits can vary significantly at this level.

For further information about the Big 4 & Top 20 market please contact:

Kate SurgeonerE: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Job title London(£,000)

The South (£,000)

Midlands(£,000)

Scotland & The North(£,000)

South West & Wales(£,000)

Corporate & Employment Tax & VAT

Director £85 - £180 £75 - £150 £70 - £140 £65 - £140 £70 - £140

Senior Manager £65 - £95 £50 - £90 £48 - £85 £45 - £75 £55 - £85

Manager £50 - £70 £48 - £62 £38 - £55 £40 - £65 £40 - £58

Tax Senior £42 - £52 £38 - £48 £32 - £42 £28 - £35 £24 - £35

Assistant £25 - £40 £20 - £35 £18 - £30 £16 - £32 £16 - £26

Personal & Expatriate Tax

Director £80 - £160 £75 - £150 £65 - £130 £60 - £130 £65 - £130

Senior Manager £58 - £90 £48 - £85 £45 - £80 £45 - £75 £50 - £80

Manager £50 - £68 £45 - £60 £35 - £55 £38 - £60 £40 - £58

Tax Senior £42 - £50 £38 - £45 £30 - £40 £28 - £35 £24 - £35

Assistant £25 - £40 £20 - £35 £18 - £30 £16 - £30 £16 - £26

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Boutique Firms In the face of the variable economic landscape and a cautious

forecast amongst the Big 4 and Top 20 firms for the rest of 2012,

the independent and boutique firms market has continued the

steady commitment to recruitment which we saw across all

levels and tax specialisms from the middle of 2011.

In contrast to the patterns of last year however, where the

majority of roles in the mid tier were created through need to

replace candidates leaving for the larger firms, this consistent

activity has been generated more out of natural growth and

restructuring, with firms having the confidence and capital to

acquire new talent, and many taking steps to diversify their

service offering. This has led to a greater number of vacancies

with a focus on advisory or technical development, and a

renewed interest in recruitment for specialist areas such as

VAT, research and development and partnership tax. Across the

mid-market however, the main demand was, as expected, in

corporate and personal taxation, with the first half of 2012

dominated by the latter specialism and a steady stream of

corporate roles emerging from June onwards.

On the whole the first half of 2012 has seen a greater drive

from candidates to consider their options in these improving

markets, with strong candidates able to demand a higher salary

rate than in recent years at all levels from Tax Senior to Senior

Manager and Director. Salaries across the board however have

remained largely unchanged after their encouraging boost last

year, although incentives, commission structures and bonus

packages have been seen more often.

The Boutique market has remained dominated by overseas

professional services firms showing a similar commitment to

their fairly rigorous recruitment programmes announced last

year.

After very little partner level recruitment in 2009/10, senior

level recruitment across the mid tier and boutique firms has

been fairly solid throughout the back end of 2011 and the first

quarter of 2012, particularly Partners who are well networked

or have a client following. Boutique firms particularly have

been looking to take market share from some of the larger

professional services firms who have been quieter in these

periods. We have also noticed an increase in the smaller and

independent firms seeking to take on Tax Partners for the first

time due to a desire for growth or as replacement for general

Practice Partners who retired or left the partnership during this

time. A trend that we have noticed is smaller firms taking on

Senior Managers and Directors from the larger firms as Partners

as progression in these firms has been a little slow over the

last year.

The overall picture has continued to be positive across the board

amidst the mid market and independent professional services

and after a busy summer of nationwide events provoking a

quieter quarter three, September onwards looks set to be busy

as firms return to business as usual for the latter half of 2012.

Though we are still by no means out of the woods, what has

been encouraging has been the resilience of these smaller firms

against economic uncertainty.

For further information about the Boutique tax market please contact:

Hu Kabir or Emily MorrisonE: [email protected]: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Job Title London£,000

South East£,000

Midlands£,000

South West£,000

The North & Scotland £,000

Personal Tax and Expatriate Tax, and Trusts

Senior Manager £60-£80 £50-75 £46-£65 £50-£62 £45-£60

Manager £45-£65 £42-65 £36-£55 £35-£48 £35-£46

Tax Senior £30-£45 £26-42 £24-£38 £24-£35 £20-£35

Assistant £24-£32 £22-28 £20-£24 £18-£24 £16-£22

Corporate Tax and VAT

Senior Manager £62-£85 £60-80 £48-£68 £48-£68 £46-£62

Manager £48-£62 £45-60 £38-£52 £38-£52 £36-£48

Tax Senior £32-£48 £30-44 £25-£40 £25-£38 £22-£36

Assistant £24-£32 £22-28 £18-£25 £18-£24 £17.5-£22

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Legal Tax Market

While there still has to be a strong business case to hire

additional resource into the transactional teams within the

law firms or indeed replace Tax Lawyers who may have left,

the first six months of 2012 has been surprisingly busy from

Associate up to Partner level.

Although across mainstream corporate tax and tax litigation

the appetite to hire has been steady, it is within private client

tax teams that we have seen the real activity. With high net

worth individuals being many law firms favourite clients at the

moment, more and more practices are looking for additional

ways in which they can service all their tax requirements in-

house which has lead to teams expanding to cope with the

increased work load.

Many smaller practices are benefiting from the quality of

candidates at the senior associate level who are coming to the

market looking for better career progression with partnership

in the larger City firms and magic circle still incredibly difficult

to attain.

We have also seen some key moves at Partner level with some

US outfits looking to bring tax capability into the firm for the

first time having tired of turning work away. In addition, we

have seen some strategic moves from the Big 4 back into legal

practice to set up specialist areas such as transfer pricing and

share schemes.

However competition for roles remains fierce at every level.

Whether applying for a mid level associate role in a City practice

or moving as a Partner there are some exceptional candidates

vying for the same jobs and employers are still cautious enough

to set the bar very high. Newly qualified positions are also

extremely rare within tax as it is never an area in which trainees

are taken on in volume and when opportunities do arise firms

are understandably prioritising their own trainees. That being

said, many firms are in competition with each other for the

very best candidates, especially at the 2 - 4 year PQE level so

Partners are having to move quickly to avoid candidates pulling

out of processes for a swifter offer.

With Partner promotions as elusive as ever, some Senior

Associate salaries in the magic circle are being artificially

inflated to retain experienced staff, but most salaries have

remained static, offering only the minimum PQE uplift and

minimal bonuses. However with many firms announcing 100%

retention rates for trainees and PEP up for many firms with

recent financials looking surprisingly healthy, the law firms in

London look steady as we move into the second half of 2012.

For further information about the Legal tax market please contact:

Catherine NashE: [email protected] T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Type of Firm NQ 1 PQE 2 PQE 3 PQE PEP 2011 / 2012

West End Firm £55,000 £63,000 £67,000 £75,000 £224,000

City Firm £60,000 £67,000 £72,000 £78,000 £332,000

Silver Circle £62,000 £69,000 £78,000 £86,000 £528,000

Magic Circle £64,000 £70,000 £80,000 £88,000 £1,200,000

International Firm £72,000 £82,000 £86,000 £97,000 £1,000,000

US Firm £95,000 £100,000 £106,000 £115,000 £1,350,000


International Europe

The trend for growth within international Big 4 firms has

continued with increased demand for high calibre candidates.

As the appetite for working abroad has increased, in some

circumstances driven by a rather flat UK market, many firms

in the European market space have raised their hiring criteria

and language skills have become essential. With an increase

in global organisations situating their EMEA headquarters in

these jurisdictions, there has been a large migration of finance

and tax staff to these locations. The Big 4 have capitalised

on these moves and grown their tax teams with a particular

focus on international tax, transfer pricing, expatriate tax, US

tax and private client. The most active jurisdictions have been

Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Netherlands but with increased

demand in other Central and Eastern European regions. In

the majority of the main European countries, salaries have

remained comparable to the figures quoted in our 2011/2012

salary survey with clients offering no or inflatory rises in base

salaries with bonus levels remaining static. This reflects a

continually challenging business environment.

In Europe we have seen a demand for candidate up to and

including Director Level. These roles offer the incoming

individuals opportunity for real client contact and ownership

of relationships, with a strong demand for talented business

developers. Demand has mostly been for experience within the

specialisms mentioned above, with language skills playing a

critical part in the decision making process.

The Middle East

The Middle East is still seen as a real growth area for the majority

of the Big 4. As the UK market place retracts, a majority of

business are increasing revenue growth by expanding their

emerging markets operations. Although hiring within this

region is not on par with 2011 levels, this area is still far more

active than the UK. International Tax is still the main area of

expertise, with UK and European trained individuals still in

high demand. These roles offer a variety of challenges, with

in and out bound multi-nationals continuing their investment

activities, and financial services, real estate and private equity

experience being of particulate interest.

In terms of salaries on offer in these jurisdictions, salaries are

non-comparable with the UK market, but the 0% tax rate and

work life balance can be seen as a real pull factor. Although

many candidates have seen a reduction in their net take home,

the quality and cost of living can far outstrip what is on offer in

their home territory.

For more information on the International tax market please contact:

Cristina BelcherE: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

brewermorris.com

Accounting Firms

Mark GlubbGroup Manager [email protected]

Hu KabirAssociate [email protected]

Emily [email protected]

Kate SurgeonerConsultant [email protected]

Commerce & IndustryMatthew Gravelle [email protected]

Ben ThrowerSenior [email protected]

Guy WilmotConsultant [email protected]

Stephen AdamsConsultant [email protected]

InterimMo HanslodAssociate [email protected]

Yasna KlarinSenior [email protected]

Tax LegalCatherine NashAssociate [email protected]

Claire [email protected]

Treasury Alex Hyde Associate Director [email protected]

brewermorris.com


The Team - UK Roles +44 (0)20 415 2800

David Buckley Partner [email protected]

Andrew Hirst Consultant [email protected]

The Team - Australia Roles +612 9236 9000

Practice RolesMark GlubbGroup Manager [email protected]

In-House RolesCristina BelcherConsultant [email protected]

The Team - Rest of World Roles +44 (0)20 415 2800

Mark Pryor Partner [email protected]

London 95 Queen Victoria StreetLondon EC4V 4HN T: +44 (0)20 7415 2800

Dubai Suite 614, Liberty House DIFC PO Box 506739 T: +9714 448 7770

Hong Kong 1918 Hutchinson House 10 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong T: +852 2973 6333

Singapore 30 Cecil Street#21-03/04 Prudential TowerSingapore 049712T: +65 6420 0500

Melbourne Suite 4.02520 Collins StreetMelbourne, VIC 3000T: +61 (0)3 8610 8440

Sydney Level 12, 25 Bligh Street SydneyNSW 2000T: +61 (0)2 9236 9000

Brewer Morris is a member of The SR Group

brewermorris.com

Established in 1987 Brewer Morris was the UK’s first recruitment consultancy to focus exclusively on the recruitment of taxation professionals. We are firmly established as the international market leader and take great pride in the enormous number of long-term working relationships that we have developed throughout the tax world.

Brewer Morris is a member of The SR Group. The SR Group is a specialist recruitment consultancy dedicated to raising standards in the business environments that we serve. The sectors we cover include tax, legal, human resources, marketing and executive search, dealing with a substantial number of the world’s leading professional partnerships, multi-national corporations and international banking groups as well as small to medium sized developing organisations.

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Brewer Morris Tax Recruitment Market Update & Salary Survey 2012 & 2013