Danos Group Executive Hiring & Consulting Overview 2019/2020

Since the last UK general election (December 2019), the Danos Group has experienced a significant surge in recruitment activity in the UK and across Europe. The start of 2020 is noticeably busier than early 2019. Confidence across the market has improved considerably, and the Danos Group has had its busiest ever December and January.

During the last six months of 2019 Danos Associates experienced an increase in search recruitment activity, despite the continued economic instabilities. Firms did not have the staffing resources to execute their business growth plans, and they no longer let the UK’s political indecisions hold them back. From the summer we started to see a significant rise in hiring – August was our leading summer month on record. This then surged post the December UK general election and the confirmation that Brexit was going to happen.

Across 2019, we saw high recruitment demands across the European financial centres including Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, and Luxembourg, coupled with the continued growth of nearshoring centres across Eastern Europe.

The second half of 2019 was our strongest period in the North American market since establishing ourselves in 2014. Over the last year, we have seen our business grow beyond that of New York City where our US headquarters is located. We are now working with clients across the US, branching further into the Los Angeles, and San Francisco markets, as well as undertaking searches in Boston, Chicago, and Greenwich.  Our networks in all these markets have grown considerably.

As the nearshoring phenomenon continues in the US, we anticipate increased activity this year, as we support our clients in relocating teams to lower-cost centres, away from more expensive traditional Financial Services hubs. Even with the nearshoring trend, our clients in New York City continue to be very active, with lots of hiring occurring.   

Our Singapore office had a very strong second half of 2019, they delivered the best performance ever, this growth and demand is set to continue in 2020. We have seen rapid growth as new FinTech companies enter the market, and we are seeing a high demand for strategic or innovative candidates. The MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) fully support the importance of the FinTech opportunities as highlighted by their Managing Director Mr Ravi Menon, “Singapore’s FinTech journey is about innovation, inclusion and inspiration. Everything we do in FinTech must always have a larger purpose – to improve the lives of individuals, to build a more dynamic economy, to promote a more inclusive society”.

Despite Hong Kong being immersed in anti-government protests for months, there are opportunities, and it was recently reported by the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, that the Hong Kong capital markets remain an important gateway between China and the world. Last year in the months of November and December our clients were hiring actively, and we continue to experience a good level of search activity in this market.

Danos Consulting had its best year ever in 2019, with demand concentrated predominantly across buy-side, FinTech and the medium-sized banking groups. 2020 brings a certain degree of transition due to the upcoming legislation, and the larger banking groups blanket approach of putting all interim/consultants inside IR35. Those firms taking a case-by-case approach are managing to secure some of the best shorter-term staffing solutions available. We expect the market to remain solid through the early part of 2020 and then pick-up rapidly post the IR35 implementation hiatus.

Whilst it is certain that we will continue to experience local and global challenges, our specialist teams will stay close to our clients and their markets, ensuring that we understand the ever-changing environment that they operate within. Whether it is the changes in regulation or the political landscape, we will continue to find innovative solutions to ensure our clients have the best talent in place to support and grow their businesses.  

If you would like to discuss your hiring strategies or consulting projects, then please do get in contact.

Dominic Danos
Global Managing Partner