Having listened online to the live question and answer debate with Nick Clegg, the Deputy PM in Bristol, he raised one very interesting point about communication and how we express ourselves.  He confirmed that he believes live television debates are here to stay and that they actually engage a huge amount of people to watch and listen.

Nick Clegg spoke about an interview he watched whilst on a train, which involved Bill Clinton, George Bush Snr and Ross Perot.  Having lost the sound briefly, he still felt engaged by looking at the individuals in terms of their body language and direct eye contact with the camera. Clegg commented that it may not always be what we are saying, but actually how we communicate it and the body language we portray, that is just as important.

Common factors which contribute to making a weak first impression at an interview are timidity, a limp handshake and no eye contact i.e. your body language. First impressions are vital and I believe it is critically important to give a confident and memorable first impression at your interview in order to increase your chances of succeeding. My top tips are:

1. Ensure you give a firm handshake

2. Maintain plenty of eye contact

3. Answer the question you are asked

4. Avoid jargon

5. Finally don’t digress!

Body language, communication, Deputy PM, eye contact, firm handshake, Interview technique, Nick Clegg, West Country

Whilst the Prime Minister is taking his annual summer holiday, Nick Clegg the deputy PM will be heading to Bristol this weekend in order to meet local people, an event hosted by Heart FM. The event is due to be held at a secret location, with 300 people in attendance.

Nick Clegg last came to Bristol when the three party leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats came head to head for the second televised election debate. At the time, we did not know that we were heading towards a coalition government and two of the three leaders would unite to run the country.

Whilst the event is still very much a secret, the Deputy PM is likely to receive a range of questions from the 300 strong audience.
With out doubt a variety of topics will be discussed and debated, including the budget and economy. Post budget, Nick Clegg now speaks strongly and passionately that this is very much a “Coalition” and not a Conservative budget. Some may say that it may create a “double dip” in terms of the recession; they say they had no choice to take action in this way.

We have seen a turn in the Bristol and the South-West market in terms of a renewed confidence in hiring and the number of clients opening their doors to us. That said, we have not seen the uplift as quickly as we would have liked and we are still preparing ourselves to see how the rest of 2010 evolves. It will be interesting to see if anyone poses questions to Nick Clegg in terms of any trends within employment and hiring.

His visit brings excitement to the Bristol community as we see the return of the UK Government to the West Country.

Bristol, Double dip recession, Employment, Hiring, Nick Clegg, South West market, UK Government, West Country

Recently, there has been much scaremongering regarding the prospect of a W-shaped recession. In my opinion, people have got carried away, as it’s not all doom and gloom from where I’m standing.

The trouble stems from the Bank of England’s downward revision of their projected growth figures for 2011 from 3.5% down to 2.5% as well as Mervyn King’s ominous description of the recovery as “choppy.” Judging by the newspaper headlines last week, you could have been forgiven for thinking that our fragile confidence was about to be destroyed.

Do not be misled though as I would prefer to look at all this as the bottle being half full rather than half empty. The Bank of England is forecasting 0.7% growth for the last two quarters of 2010 and growth in excess of 2% next year. The Office for Budget Responsibility is also forecasting growth around the same level. Last year, we would have revelled at the economy growing at all, so 2.5% is still very encouraging.
Certainly, with regard to taxation, activity is increasing. So far the focus has been on Indirect Tax and Transfer Pricing; understandably so, given HMRC’s desire to tighten the rules. Perhaps more encouragingly there has been some increase in corporate tax hiring. So far this has been limited but given the more general nature of this area, it’s an excellent barometer.

There is still little movement at the senior end of the market currently as senior tax professionals are choosing to stay put as present. However, with a bit of economic growth and some more confidence, they will become more inclined to move on and then we’ll see demand return.

My view is that the recovery is going to be slow and possibly “choppy” but it’s still a recovery and that’s definitely cause for positivity.

Bank of england, Corporate Tax hring, HMRC, Indirect tax, Mervyn King, recession, Tax, Transfer pricing

finance jobs, Financial Services, Financial services hiring, Financial services in London, Financial services UK, Morgan McKinley London employment Monitor, UK financial services professionals

negative qualities, Tough interview questions

In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.  If you have a problem, if no one else can help and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… The A-Team.

For the late 20-somethings and early/ mid 30s amongst us, you’ll easily recall them.  And with 3 years in the making and nearly 24 years of avid fans patiently waiting, the A-Team movie finally hits our cinema screens.  The awesome quartet of Face, BA, Murdoch and their sophisticated, cigar-smoking leader, Hannibal will once again grace us with that all too familiar storyline…..

Someone is in need of help, usually a damsel in distress, to fight off some nasty villains. For no apparent reason Hannibal gets a tip from one of the team that someone needs their help.  He arranges a meeting in which he turns up in disguise to suss out his new client.  I must admit I don’t ever recall an episode where he rejected a job because of  insufficient skills or credit.  So an agreement is made and the A-Team are again employed!

Here is really where the plot thickens. The A-Team conducts a stake out in order to let the aggressors find out who they are. After a series of fisticuffs, B.A throwing someone over a car and a few thousand rounds fired without actually hitting anyone, the aggressors run off to report back to their now very angry employer.

The next scene then involves one or more of the A-Team being kidnapped and locked away in a shed/bunker/garage that often has enough tools and material to build a tank.  Lucky that…

Clearly, they escape, but let’s not take anything away as they are after all a crack commando unit. So once free, they fight back, gain power back to the good guys and another successful mission is complete.

I suppose you are wondering what this has to do with recruitment.   Well, to be honest, not an awful lot,  however with this long-awaited film going on general release today, it just got us at Morgan McKinley thinking drama and excitement aside, the A-Team exemplifies a group of people who work exceptionally well together as a team to meet targets and achieve results on deadline.  They move from one successful project to the next deploying this effective strategy and enjoying their work at the same time.   It’s not often that we recommend that our candidates should head to the cinema for tips on making themselves more employable, however on this occasion it might just be a good plan.

I love it when a plan comes together….

A-Team, Morgan McKinley, recruitment

This week saw the establishment of the Office for Tax Simplification.  In George Osborne’s words Britain has “one of the most complex and opaque tax codes in the world” and his “dream” is to bring some transparency to this.

The new body, headed up by Michael Jack (a former Conservative minister) and John Whiting (formerly of PwC) will initially look at two areas: firstly, streamlining all 400 tax reliefs, allowances and exemptions; secondly, looking to simplify the tax system for smaller businesses.

So far, reaction seems to have been mixed on this one.  Much concern has been expressed that simplification may act as a means of increasing the tax burden across the board through scrapping reliefs.  The cynics among you will no doubt suggest that it’s no coincidence that the government is “simplifying” at a time when it is more cash strapped than ever.

On the other hand, the TUC’s General Secretary, Brendan Barber expressed concern that this is a means of reducing tax for the rich “while ordinary people see services slashed and VAT increased.”

Reality is probably somewhere in between.  As the economy grows, small businesses need all the help they can get and simplification of UK tax rules has to be welcomed.

On the other hand our tax system has evolved to produce specific outcomes.  A good example here is R&D tax relief which has helped place Britain at the very cutting edge of pharmaceutical and technological developments.

Every action produces a reaction (let’s not forget that when pension contributions were simplified we found ourselves with 120 pages of legislation following protests against extra tax relief for higher rate tax payers) so it will be interesting to see how simple we can make things or whether simplification serves to muddy the waters yet further.

Watch this space…

Office for Tax Simplification George Osborne Michael Jack John Whiting simple relief HMRC Government

As a fan of both sport and Tax, I was interested to hear of Usain Bolt’s decision not to compete in the Aviva London Grand Prix. We understand it’s not because he’s scared to face his big rivals, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, but wants to avoid the tax burden following the ruling in [André] Agassi v Robinson in 2006.

Agassi decided that sportsmen competing in the UK are liable for a 50% tax rate on  appearance fee and a proportion of total worldwide earnings.  As Bolt earns a fortune from product endorsements, this means that if he only raced five times this year, HMRC could tax 20% of his total earnings.  His appearance fee alone for next month’s Grand Prix is reported to be £166,000 –  so we’re talking big money!

The media are currently reporting that Bolt’s decision could affect London 2012, September’s Ryder Cup and England’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Let’s not panic!  The government tends to exempt participants in major sporting events, Agassi was decided in 2006 and there has been plenty of world-class sports action in the UK since then.

However, exemptions are often inconsistent and depend on arbitrary judgement of what constitutes a major event.  Many big names were missing from the pre-Wimbledon warm-up at Queen’s Club in June and, whilst Tiger teed off at St Andrews today, major names have been conspicuous by their absence at other big events in the UK’s golfing calendar.

As we were once led to believe that the Teenies were to be the decade of sport, the time has come for some clarification.  We’ve an Olympics and a Rugby World Cup in the diary already and we’re bidding for the FIFA world Cup in 2018.  As UEFA have expressed previous concerns and in the context of the rollercoaster ride that has been our 2018 bid, the whole thing could benefit from clarification from HMRC.

It seems unfair to tax sportspeople who have a unique double identity as sports hero and international brand.  Companies compartmentalise worldwide operations by dividing themselves into various legal entities leaving only transfer pricing as an issue.

2018 FIFA World Cup, Andre Agassi, Asafa Powell, Aviva london Grand prix, Ryder Cup, Tax, Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt

Well, my foray into the world of the web log: here we go…

Thanks to Alex for her introduction last week.  I’ve got a whole range of topics to discuss with you all over the coming months: the recruitment market, developments in the world of taxation, current affairs and, of course, I’ll be sharing my legendary love of sports with you too.  The latter no doubt keeping you fully up to date on the ups and downs of my beloved Arsenal FC’s season as well as my own tribulations on golf courses across the Home Counties.

Before we get going, I want to wish Alex Lawrie all the best as she heads off on maternity leave for the next six months. We look forward to hearing all about her new arrival – and hopefully getting some more of delicious her home made jam when we catch up!!

Watch this space over the coming weeks and months for all the latest taxation developments, I’m keen to hear from you as well so please keep your thoughts and comments coming.

Alex lawrie, Arsenal FC, blog, Blogosphere, current affairs, New blogger, recruitment, tax jobs, Tax market, Taxation

It’s come round fast for me, but from this Friday the 9^th July, I shall be on maternity leave so I am now “blogging off”.   I will be leaving the tax blog in the capable hands of Antony Harvey,  a mover and a shaker in the tax recruitment world and an experienced “thought leader” (Antony is a regular tweeter).  Antony’s got many interests and I am sure he will keep you all entertained as well as well informed about market developments.  He is well travelled, has a fine collection of brightly coloured ties and braces, is a bit of a “gourmet” and can talk about a range of subjects from scrumping to sports.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who has ever given me a seat on the tube.  I have generally found people to be very kind, especially as my pregnancy has become more advanced.  Some mornings there has been a “Mexican wave” of people getting up out of their seats for me.   I’d like to think that most of the people who do not get up just haven’t seen me as they’re genuinely asleep or too engrossed in their newspapers.

I would much rather someone not give me a seat than be on the receiving end of some of the comments from strangers – you become public property when you’re pregnant.  I’ve had several strangers comment “you look like you’re about to burst” or “you look far bigger than X rmonth’s pregnant.”  Don’t get me started on the “tummy touchers”.

A member of a church football team of teenage boys, waiting by their minibus near where I live in North London exclaimed “Oh my Gosh, check her out, she’s bustin’” the other day and they all fell about laughing…  That wasn’t necessary, and neither are questions about whether it was planned or not.

Lastly – thanks to all my colleagues for being so supportive throughout my pregnancy – not all women are this lucky.  In particular I’d like to thank both the in house team and the tax practice teams, internal audit and professional services for carrying my folder/ bag when we go to meetings, giving me recipe ideas when I was off my food, keeping a good supply of treats available and to Ian in particular for making sure I am drinking enough water!

See you in 6 months!!

Will Hepworth will be leading the in house tax team in my absence and can be contacted on 0203 077 5307whepworth@morganmckinley.co.uk

For all internal audit, please contact Lee Kerr on 0203 077 5341 or email lkerr@morganmckinley.co.uk

blog, blog tax alex lawrie internal audit, Matt leave