Q1 2025 UK tax market update

Author Sarah Reid

April 10, 2025

It has been a busy start to 2025! During Q1, Brewer Morris hosted our annual senior leaders in professional services lunch at Fortnum & Mason and I also hosted a webinar for employment and expatriate tax professionals working in-house.

The first quarter of 2025 has seen a continuation of the tax recruitment market that we saw in Q4 of 2024. There has been strong demand for tax professionals across the human capital disciplines of global mobility, employment tax and share schemes.

Whilst London continues to see strong activity, I have also seen increasing demand across several regional locations including Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Scotland. Hybrid working continues to be a topic of debate. Whilst there has been a general market shift to encourage individuals back into the office, candidates are still citing flexible working as one of their key priorities when securing a new role.

Employment tax

Employment tax has been one of the busier areas within the human capital tax recruitment market in Q1. There has been demand at all levels however most of the appetite to hire has been seen at Manager and Assistant Manager level. Most accountancy firms with this specialism already established have been hiring in both London and on a regional basis. There have also been several firms who are less well known for employment tax who have been investing in making senior appointments which I am sure will lead to more junior hiring in the future.

The talent pool remains tight, so those organisations looking to hire have had to consider how they can differentiate themselves against the competition to be successful in attracting and retaining the best talent on the market. The continued pull of in-house for talent also remains particularly at Manager and Senior Manager grade with several replacement and newly created appointments having been made so far this year.

I anticipate that the overall demand within this specialism will continue throughout 2025 as advisory firms and in-house teams grapple with current and upcoming legislative changes.

Global mobility tax

The global mobility tax market continues to see huge change and firms are proceeding to realign their structures to fit current demands. Despite this, hiring levels have remained, and several firms have made significant investment in senior appointments within this specialism both in London and on a regional basis. The key theme with any senior hiring so far this year has been around the ability to win work and build upon existing revenue streams. There has been very little appetite for more delivery focused roles at this level.

The majority of hiring within global mobility tax has continued to be seen at Assistant Manager and Manager level. Typically, it has been the larger firms or those with larger teams in this area that have been recruiting at these grades.

Candidates are acutely aware of the market shifts and therefore the majority are keen to diversify their skills to future proof their careers so firms able to offer this have typically been the ones who have been most successful in hiring and retaining talent.

Share schemes has been an area of continued demand with hiring focused on Senior/Assistant Manager level through to Senior Manager grade. How each professional services firm structures this area varies quite significantly. Some teams focus purely on UK work whereas others are more global in their scope. Also, some teams include broader HR work in their roles whereas others include legal aspects. All of this impacts the already tight talent pools available to those recruiting and means that the competition is quite varied. Given these challenges, those who have been successful in hiring have been agile in their approach – identifying what experience is considered a deal breaker and considering what aspects can be taught to individuals they hire.

Looking ahead to Q2

As we move into Q2, I anticipate demand will remain from both those looking to hire in these disciplines and those looking to move. Given this, and with most firms gearing up for their performance reviews in Q2 and Q3, it will be interesting to see what impact the busy recruitment market has on pay rises and bonus payouts this year especially given the moderate changes I saw in 2024.

If you are keen to discuss any of the content in this market report, are considering a move or looking to hire for your team. Please contact me for a confidential discussion on [email protected].