1. 25 years in the world of Indirect Tax Recruitment…
A quarter of a century has gone by since BLT’s inception back in 1987, and we’re celebrating. Such milestones
always make us somewhat nostalgic for the good old days when BLT’s database consisted of a set of index
cards in a box and ‘tweeting’ was something that birds did when in a particularly good mood.
It’s fair to say that the Indirect Tax discipline has transformed almost beyond recognition from 1987, when BLT
was established to provide a recruitment service exclusively to the Indirect Tax market. We now live in a world
where the profile of Indirect Tax has never been higher, where Indirect Tax issues remain ever complex, where
the private sector Indirect Tax population has expanded to c. 1600 people in the UK, where Indirect Tax
expertise is transportable globally and where Indirect Tax specialists have infiltrated the higher echelons of a
huge number of multinational companies across all sectors. So change indeed.
Consultancy: Bigger. But smaller.
By the mid-80’s, the numbers of Indirect Tax Consultants in the private sector was still comparatively small.
Some of the early leaders in VAT had moved from the Department to establish successful consultancy
operations in the larger accountancy practices, and growth plans were all about hiring the very best business
skills and technical excellence around the UK – there was particular emphasis on growing teams outside the
capital. Candidates were by and large those moving from HM Customs & Excise into the private sector – and
what a lot of choice they had - those were the days of the Big 8: Arthur Andersen, Arthur Young, Coopers &
Lybrand, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Ernst & Whinney, Peat Marwick, Price Waterhouse and Touche Ross. There
were also a large number of other firms (about 20) including BDO Binder Hamlyn, Grant Thornton and Pannell
Kerr Forster all looking to expand their Indirect Tax offering. With such a large array of accountancy practices
of all shapes and sizes in growth mode, competition for talent was intense, with particularly skilled individuals
regularly having the pick of 6 – 8 offers to choose from.
Leading up to 2002, the Indirect Tax population in the consultancy practices of course grew massively but
concurrently the numbers of firms (and therefore career options) shrunk post various mergers and acquisitions.
We now have the Big 4 and approximately 10 other firms whose national UK Indirect Tax practices consist of
more than ten people – a smaller world indeed.
Another difference: in those early years, VAT practitioners needed to be very broad-ranging technically, able to
turn their hand to whatever came their way. Just as important were their personal attributes - the people that
succeeded and really put Indirect Tax on the map in the private sector had a real pioneering, entrepreneurial
spirit, with a belief and enthusiasm that the vision they had was achievable. The present day sees Indirect Tax
team structures in the larger firms catering to the niche complexities of specific sectors, whether it be banking,
insurance, M&A, funds, technology, media, retail, energy, manufacturing, automotive, public sector,
customs/international trade or systems and processes. A number of the smaller firms and independent practices
have also focused on their sector offering – quite commonly charity, health, education or high net worth
individuals.
In the late 1990’s BLT helped establish the Indirect Tax graduate training programmes for a number of the large
firms as a direct consequence of the ever decreasing numbers of individuals in HM Customs & Excise ready,
willing and able to make the transition into the private sector, as well as a certain amount of enthusiasm for
‘growing one’s own talent’. A number of these appointments are now the Partners of today, and the graduate
training programmes are a firmly embedded part of the large firms’ growth strategies.
Working in-house
By the mid 90’s some corporates had already started to take Indirect Tax in-house and by the end of the decade,
there were large numbers of companies appointing specialists dedicated to raising awareness of Indirect Tax
within their respective organisations and structuring Indirect Tax affairs efficiently. By 2001/2, most large
companies had at least one in-house Indirect Tax specialist in place, and indeed some of the larger financial
services institutions and huge global enterprises had established sizeable in-house teams. Throughout this time,
companies could rely on a huge number of interested parties eager to translate their strategic Indirect Tax
experience into a very practical setting – a mixture of very commercially minded individuals looking to make a
very real difference to a specific company’s business activities, as well as those less comfortable with the
increasing emphasis on the marketing and business development aspects of life in the profession.

2. To a certain extent the last decade has been more about growing existing in-house teams; whether expansion of
advisory teams at the more junior grades, or else compliance related positions focused on ‘getting the numbers
right’ in the increasingly legislated business environment of today. At the more senior levels, roles are much
more infrequent these days given that most large companies have that position gainfully filled – and in the
economic ups and downs of the last few years, roles have been largely restricted to replacement positions when
a role happens to become vacant rather than first ever Indirect Tax appointments being made (with a few notable
exceptions in the UK and increasingly so, Switzerland).
Indirect Tax goes global
The UK Indirect Tax model remains one of the most advanced and well-established on the global stage, and
over the last decade in particular, UK Indirect Tax expertise has become increasingly transportable. In 1999,
BLT went ‘down under’ to help consultancy practices and law firms develop Indirect Tax practices leading up
to the advent of GST in Australia; this was followed by big expansion in Eastern Europe. In recent years, some
consultancy firms in the US and Asia Pac have also been growing Indirect Tax teams quite considerably. The
consultancy teams on mainland Europe have been largely home-grown from within the respective countries,
where knowledge of the local legislation and a legal education has been seen as a big plus – quite frankly, the
British lack of linguistic ability has held many back from these shores being able to operate effectively on
mainland Europe! With more and more in-house roles arising on mainland Europe, we can only see our
activities overseas increasing – so far our work has led us to placements in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China,
Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia,
Slovakia, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania and the USA.
Recruitment’s also different
When I first started at BLT back in early 1998 as a fresh-faced graduate out of University, our working days
included jumping on the tube to hand deliver CVs to clients, getting writer’s cramp from personally hand-
writing tailored notes of introduction as well as countless hours spent feeding paper into the fax machine. The
advent of email and technology has certainly speeded up the facility of putting someone forward for a position.
Life has also changed for the jobseeker as well - gone are the days when an Indirect Tax interview involved an
evening down the pub and a job offer the next day! Candidates need to be much more ‘switched-on’ and focused
on impressing at interview, and companies in turn are much more formal about their recruitment process and
competencies when they look for a new hire.
All change – but has it?
After a rather dusty hour or so in BLT’s archives (well, broom-cupboard), I found the records of those early
placements out of HM Customs & Excise into the fledgling Indirect Tax teams of the accountancy practices.
What’s astonishing is how many of the names featured there are still around and influential in Indirect Tax
today! Amazingly around 70% of the BLT placements in the late 80’s are still involved in the world of Indirect
Tax in some shape or form, whether as Partners or leading figures in the profession, heads of Indirect Tax
departments in industry or else running their own profitable independent practices. Indeed a few are still in the
same firm 25 years later!
One particular common denominator between then and now is that in actual fact, the core ingredients for a
successful Indirect Tax specialist have remained roughly the same – an ability to adapt to change, an innate
sense of right and wrong, a certain amount of entrepreneurial flair, a warmth of personality and an ability to not
take oneself too seriously. All of which BLT have tried to mirror in the way that we do business as well. So on
behalf of Liz Watt, Emma Wade and myself, we at BLT would like to say thank you to all our clients and
candidates for their business, support and loyalty over the last 25 years, and above all for enabling our dealings
with the Indirect Tax population to be so thoroughly enjoyable.
Guy Barrand is an Associate Director in BLT’s Indirect Tax Team. He can be contacted
at gnb@blt.co.uk or 0207 405 3404.