Who says you have to join a big firm to be successful in the world of taxation?

The sheer dominance of the top 4 accountancy firms has put certain pressures on the remaining second tier and independent practices.

This years recruitment statistics suggest that second tier and independent practices are increasingly recruiting taxation specialists in order to compete with the ‘big 4’ and are trying to enhance their ‘all under one roof’ format that is more common today.

However there are some firms who are choosing to steer clear of this format and are setting up a practice to provide a boutique service in order to compete with the larger organisations. A boutique service offers an alternative solution for survival within the competitive tax arena. These practices tend to specialise in a certain area of tax and offer skill sets that cover every aspect of that service line.

By providing a more bespoke service to the client, the boutique firm takes advantage of its USP and quite happily takes a healthy share of business from the tax market. This unique position that boutique firms hold within the marketplace has seen an increase in the number of new practices opening up across the UK and Ireland. It seems that for whatever tax specialism you require there will be a boutique ready to step in and offer its services.

The opportunities that are available within a ‘boutique firm’ are very attractive and enable the stereotypical career path of the modern day tax accountant to differ. The culture of the boutique firm allows employees to become real specialists, thus giving the client a more bespoke service.

Working for a boutique firm offers many other benefits, such as:

• A life with less politics and red tape
• The ability to gain more business development and marketing skills
• Attractive salaries and incentives 
• Improved work life balance
• Increased client contact
• Progression at a comfortable pace determined by the individual

If you are interested in working within a boutique firm and would like to speak to a specialist regarding opportunities available to you, or if you have specific executive recruitment requirements please contact our specialist tax team at Burns Carlton on 0113 367 2850 or alternatively email us at professional@burnscarlton.com