Accountancy recruiters supplying staff to small and medium accountants have not been as badly hit by the downturn as those supplying larger accountancy firms, according to recruiters.

David Jervis, managing director of Farnham-based recruiter IMR Accountancy,  told Recruiter that while big accountants are making” a few redundancies”, the small to medium accountancy firms are largely unaffected because the work they do is compliance work for SMEs.

“Whether it’s boom or bust an SME needs to have its accounts done for tax,” Jervis adds.

Lorraine Twist, managing consultant public practice division of ECHM adds;  “Reduced demand from the large accountancy firms and the wider pool of talent now available in the market means smaller firms are using this as an opportunity to attract high calibre individuals.”