Wales is an emerging force in financial services; increasingly host to the leading businesses and services that underpin the UK’s world-leading financial sector.
Ever improving transport links mean the Cardiff area has become a natural hub for investors looking for a more affordable location than London.
This trend will develop Wales’s reputation as the home for innovative fintech start-ups as well as for established, household names such as Admiral, Principality, Deloitte, and Lloyds banking group.
Accounting recruitment thrives in Wales
The Welsh finance sector contributed over £2 billion to the UK economy in 2016.
According to the Welsh government, Cardiff’s financial and professional services sector employed 46,700 as of 2014, almost a quarter of the city’s total employment — up 4,000 from 2011.
In 2015, the UK government designated South Wales a financial centre of excellence.
In recent years, skills shortages in accounting and finance have been widely reported, with a clear demand for suitably-qualified professionals not just in Wales but in the UK as a whole.
Cyber attacks create risk analysis openings
Audit and risk is a particular area rising in demand due to businesses seeking to mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks.
The latest Employer Skills Survey, carried out by the Department for Education (DFE) in 2015, highlighted a trend towards recruitment from abroad in finance professions. Other reasons include a continuing negative perception of the industry following the financial crisis and a knock-on economic effect regarding cuts on graduate programmes.
But there remains a strong and steady increasing employer demand for accountancy skills within the financial sector.
In demand, are skilled applicants who have their pick of roles across the board and who are more likely to quickly receive alternative offers with the ability to pick and choose their next step.
Career journey to the next role
How can we encourage a broader range of prospective accountancy candidates to consider the finance industry as a career? Acorn Recruitment says developing the right employment package to attract talent is key. Many employers Acorn works will now offer training alongside a day-to-day role, leading to AAT qualification or chartered status.
This is undoubtedly a much-needed requirement to develop the skills needed to carry the Welsh financial sector through this period of growth and ensure that it remains strong – particularly as we head ever-closer towards the unknown after Brexit.