A Quarter Century of Change in Finance Recruitment - and a Clear Lesson for Employers

After 25 years recruiting accountants across South Yorkshire, from newly qualified through to senior management, I have seen almost everything change.

The competitor landscape has intensified. Candidates manage their careers more deliberately than ever. Attraction strategies have moved well beyond job adverts. Technology has transformed access to information and expectations of process.

What has not changed is this: failing to innovate your recruitment approach means failing to capitalise on one of the strongest regional pools of senior finance talent in the UK.

Candidates are attracted to opportunities for an increasing number of reasons and presenting these to them needs a different approach

The Reality in 2026

If you want to secure the best Financial Controller, Financial Accountant or Finance Business Partner today the answer is clear, you must focus on the passive market. You must articulate your opportunity with precision and credibility. You must use data to understand the context, the talent map and the competitive positioning of your role.

The best candidates are not applying to adverts. They are choosing opportunities.

Most of the higher calibre candidates do not apply to adverts, they are not even looking at all!

“A South Yorkshire manufacturing business came to us after three months of advertising for a Financial Controller. They had good applicants. Solid CVs. Safe options. But no one who could genuinely transform the finance function.

The individual they eventually hired had not been on a job board in five years.

We approached him because we knew his track record from a previous PE backed environment. He initially declined a conversation. It took a carefully positioned approach, a detailed briefing pack and two exploratory discussions before he agreed to meet the client.

He is now leading a system implementation and has reshaped reporting across the group.

He would never have applied to an advert.

He did not need another job.

He needed the right opportunity.

That is the passive market in action.”

The Big Shift

Twenty years ago, most of my time was spent working from PSLs or competing with multiple agencies on the same SME brief. Exclusivity mattered then but today it is essential.

We now only take on non exclusive assignments in exceptional circumstances. That is how strongly we believe that a committed, partnership approach is the only way to deliver for employers.

Contingent processes create noise.

Retained processes create outcomes.

Sadly, though even though exclusivity is in the client's interest, we have allowed them to believe that 'using many recruiters on the same job' is best.

And that created a mindset that need to work on to shift. It starts with understanding why clients think a 'resume race' is in their best interests.

We, the recruiters, are not articulate enough, or brave enough, to tell clients why it’s not in their interests to multi-list job orders. We must.

The evolution of retained search

Retained search has always been the right solution for executive appointments. What is changing is how far it is cascading into senior management hiring.

Clients are benefiting from:

Candidate brochures that present the full story of the business, the role and the opportunity, engaging high calibre individuals who would never respond to a job advert.

Proactive mapping and approach of the strongest candidates in the market, whether they are actively looking or not.

Market data and insight that strengthens communication, informs shortlisting and provides a robust mandate for appointment.

This is not just a better process. It is a different outcome.

The candidate brochure that changed perception

“A professional services firm in Sheffield believed their brand alone would attract a strong Financial Accountant.

The advert generated response.

The quality was mixed.

On a retained basis, we built a detailed candidate brochure outlining:

• ‍The three year growth plan
• ‍The investment in technology
• ‍The leadership vision
• ‍The genuine progression route

When approaching passive candidates, that narrative changed the conversation completely.

One individual told us:

"I would never have responded to a standard advert for this. Seeing the strategy and understanding where the business is heading made it worth a conversation."

He accepted the role and has since stepped into a wider commercial remit.

The difference was storytelling backed by insight.

The result

Our completion rate on retained senior finance assignments is 100%.

Whether the brief requires a rare technical skillset or the very best talent in a broader market, retained search delivers depth, engagement and certainty.

In a region rich with finance capability, the organisations that adopt a retained approach will secure the strongest leadership.

Those that do not will simply be competing for what is left.

Retained is not a premium option. It is the way forward.‍