Welcome to the tenth edition of the Interim newsletter.

The good news is that market conditions continue to improve for interim management requirements. However with the market pick up we have also seen an increase in the length of time it takes to hire. The notable areas of uplift have been within in commerce and financial services and less so within public sector.

For those of you looking at the permanent market, we have just expanded our executive team with the appointment of Ray Nicholls - an ex-Interim Partners and Michael Page consultant, who will work closely with the interim division here. If you want to discuss permanent options with Ray or for those of you that know him from his previous interim days, you can contact him at ray.nicholls@markssattin.com or 020 7747 9778.

We will also be holding a Finance Directors networking evening in the next couple of months - details to follow shortly.

Market Trends

There has been a noticeable upturn in the last quarter for interim management requirements in the private sector; with new projects taking off, more deals getting done and the appetite to use interims rather than internal resources much increased.

However, the market for many continues to be difficult and the pendulum is still swinging in favour of the employer. These effects have materialised in a slower recruitment process, especially for the senior positions, meeting multiple layers of the client's hierarchy before decisions are made.

Many interims that are concerned about the effects of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) need not fear. A flood of competition from the squeezed public sector and current market conditions make it difficult for people to switch sectors. There is certainly a trend for experienced interim managers rather than permanent candidates hoping to make the move into interim management.

Inside Track

Rates are always a key topic of conversation amongst many Interims and with the increased supply of interims in the market and some downward pressure on rates from some clients, we thought it would be useful to give a snapshot of what the rates currently stand at. Overall, rates have held up over the past couple of years (perhaps better than expected) and clients have been very demanding on background and skill set but generally willing to commit to a decent rate once they have found an ideal match. For some of our most popular roles, we've given a brief salary snapshot below:

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