Broadly speaking market activity is on a notable upward curve; with no looming geo-political or economic disruption on the horizon for the first time since Feb 2020, organisations are once again more confident making senior appointments.

Notably, change/transformation is increasingly high on the agenda. Be they CFOs, CIOs or broader general management candidates, those with expertise of leading transformation and change projects are seeing engagement now that businesses are more confident committing to large scale transformations.

Internationally, along with the profound levels of investment in the Middle East continuing at a pace, activity is also increasing across South East Asia and Australasia.

Demand is also increasing for NED and Board Advisory roles within SMEs; similar to how organisations are now confident enough to invest in transformation, businesses are also again now comfortable investing in experienced, advisory positions to guide growth be that organic, through acquisitions or via diversification.

The Financial and Professional Services market is particularly active across the major geographic regions. As a snapshot a brief overview of the London market gives an indication of how dynamic the markets are becoming.

Professional Services Sector
Last week KPMG posted double-digit revenue growth for the second year in a row on the back of expansion in its Consulting and M&A Deals Advisory divisions. KPMGs CEO has indicated there are no intentions to follow EY in pursuing a global split between Audit and Advisory.

Whilst there may be differences between strategic approach Consulting and M&A Deals Advisory is clearly a significant area for the Big 4 consulting and advisory firms both in the UK and globally.

Financial Services Sector
There are also signs that the Financial Services Sector as a whole specifically in London is gaining confidence after the Bank of England’s statement that any recession in the UK will be shorter and shallower than expected.

FinTech
Reflecting the above cautious positivity, London based Digital Lender Zopla has just raised £75m as it looks to kick off a major growth push in the coming months.

Areas of specific activity comprise

Financial Services
Sector specialists in Taxation, Pensions, Financial Engineering, Trust Services
Capital Markets – Treasury + Fixed Income
Private Equity – Funds + Investee companies
M&A – Corporate Development
Insurance
Retail Banking Coverage/Sales
Sustainability/ESG
Wealth Management
Asset Management
Risk + Compliance
FinTech
Real Estate
Operational (COO) + Finance (CFO) roles
NEDs

Professional Services
Legal – In House + In Practice
Business Change
Education
Consulting across – Data, Energy, Sustainability, ESG, Digitalisation, Public Sector and Healthcare

Finding the right Search Consultant, with the most appropriate job opportunity to match your objectives in this unadvertised and often politically complex marketplace is one of the key InterExec skills. Additionally focussing and preparing you and planning the entire process by which you identify and find that new challenge is InterExec’s core skill.

In planning for your next career challenge in 2023, getting that process underway early will take advantage of appointments Search Consultants continue to have mandates for. Please, do not hesitate to get in touch with the InterExec team at any time up to 6 months prior to when you hope to move.