As the nights start to draw in on summer, and the autumn colours are in in full bloom, a couple of clients even mentioned the C word to me last week, Q3 has wrapped up with clear signs of renewed confidence in the tax recruitment market. From an increase in live jobs to a surge in offers, businesses are pressing ahead with growth plans and creating new opportunities across every corner of the tax landscape.
Here’s how Q3 compared to Q2
|
Metric |
% Change (Q3 vs Q2) |
|
Client Meetings |
🔺 3% |
|
Interviews |
🔺 4% |
|
Offers |
🔺 50% |
|
Placements |
🔺 7% |
|
Jobs on |
🔺 23% |
|
Newly Created Roles |
🔺 85% |
Discipline Growth
|
Discipline |
% Change |
|
Corporate Tax |
🔺 50% |
|
M&A Tax |
🔺 350% |
|
Private Client |
🔺 233% |
|
VAT |
🔺 100% |
Market Insights
- Confidence is clearly returning — client meetings and interviews both increased and offers jumped by 50% as employers moved faster to secure top talent.
- More new roles being created — the number of newly created positions was up by 85% compared to Q2, showing strong growth intentions heading into year-end.
- Wider market coverage — from Corporate Tax and Private Client to M&A and VAT, every specialism saw activity rise this quarter.
- Private Client – we are seeing that there has been an increase here and year on year Q3 always seems to be the busy time here with clients wanting to get candidates ideally before the busy season kicks in
- M&A – as mentioned in my M&A tax video, we are seeing this as a high demand area for tax talent , mainly at the Manager & Senior Manger grade
- Corporate Tax – a staple in the tax recruitment world – clients always seeing a need for great tax talent
- In house – a steady flow of mutli-disciplined tax roles for the 1st movers into industry from practice
- With note towards the offers with a shape rise compared to placed – we have seen a high number of candidates that are exclusively registered with Pro-Tax get multiple offer with clients (one of which had 5 offers to choose from!)
Insights across the Regional / National Markets
- Growth in specialist tax areas – We are continuing to see growth in specialist tax teams across financial services, transfer pricing, tax disputes, share schemes etc regionally across the North. This is being driven by several Big 4 & Top 10 firms looking to grow previously ‘London centric’ teams in other UK offices. Reading and Bristol too is busy with searches within M&A, Share Schemes & Transfer Pricing.
- External investment contributing to growth – Private Equity and outside investment is still playing a key role across the North and the Central regions. Again, we are seeing several firms invest in new tax hires across the these areas to help drive their ambitious growth strategies across the UK.
- Corporate Tax – Corporate Tax vacancies are still the most in demand skill set across the North, with almost every single firm looking to secure some form of corporate tax talent. We continue to see roles registered looking for both advisory & compliance specialists.
- R&D Tax – Throughout Q3 we saw a sharp increase in R&D vacancies across a variety of firms including Big, Top 10s and Mid-Tiers. These roles were driven through a mixture of attrition and growth for a number of firms. A welcome return to an area in tax which has been quieter than others more recently.
- Private Client – As always with this time of year, we are starting to see an increase in demand ahead of a busy season. However we are being asked almost weekly for trust & IHT specialists to support with budget changes and succession planning
Final Thoughts
It’s been a strong and optimistic Q3 — with rising job flow, higher offer volumes, and businesses continuing to expand their tax teams. With this momentum building, Q4 is shaping up to be a very busy and opportunity-rich period for both candidates and employers.
If you’re considering a move or planning ahead for 2026, now’s the time to explore what’s out there.
