Ambitious young graduates would do well to seek a career in finance to act as a springboard to land top jobs on Britain’s boards.

Clive Davis, director at finance staffing specialist Robert Half, was highlighting his firm’s latest research, which shows 49% of serving chief executives in the current FTSE 100 Index have financial backgrounds, up from just 31% in 2008.

Davis told Recruiter: “These are top 100 companies, so they will always put the best person in the top job. It is not just a case of accountants getting the top job. The findings show finance as a very attractive career opportunity.”

Graduates move into finance and are then given a commercial role, with responsibility for a country or a division. “It is almost as if finance is the springboard to move yourself around the company,” Davis says.

“During the downturn finance leaders held key roles at the decision-making table as companies tried to navigate their way through a difficult business environment. I think it’s fair to say that the finance function gained prominence during that time. CFOs were core to that process, so it’s properly not surprising a number of them have been promoted during that time. There is such a difference to the numbers of just a few years ago.

“With the amount of regulatory reporting that is required both internally but also for external stakeholders, it can be seen as reassuring to have someone with a core finance background leading the company that can front up to the big issues.

“We now have a much regulatory environment with stricter financial reporting and auditing regulations. No company likes surprises, so a greater part of a CEO’s responsibility is taking ultimate responsibility for these issues, which were not around to the same level of detail a few years ago.”