EVENT : British Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg Lunch with guest speaker Pierre Gramegna

Excellent lunch at the BCC with guest speaker Pierre Gramegna.

On January 22nd , KR Recruitment attended The British Chamber of Commerce lunch with Guest Speaker, Pierre Gramegna, Minister for Finance, who spoke on the subject: "Banking Union in the Eurozone: a positive impact on the Luxembourg financial centre".
 

 

The conference was followed by a lunch attended by our consultants Sarah Drews, Muriel Newton and Aidan O'Sullivan.

Quarterly Market Report End of Year 2013 & Start of 2014

 

Luxembourg Market Update: End of Year 2013 & Start of 2014 (January)

The final Quarter of 2013 finished very strongly.  The recruitment activity in the final quarter of 2013 continued at a steady increase, showing definitive signals that Luxembourg had fully recovered from the crisis and is growing steadily.  This strong recruitment activity has continued in to 2014, so the outlook for Luxembourg is very positive. 

 

Interestingly the Quarterly results seen by KR recruitment last year, in terms of number of placements and value of placements, was extremely consistent each quarter, with a steady increase quarter by quarter.  Not only was it positive to see continued growth through the year, but it was also positive to see a “stable” market,  the volatility we have seen in the previous years (due to various economic shocks) seems to have dissipated.  This will bring further confidence  to a buoyant employment market.

Overall we can be confident of a continued recovery for 2014.

KR Recruitment - Key Trends of Q4 2013

• KR Recruitment has seen a mix of midlevel roles €45-60K, and the more senior roles €80K-120K.  We have seen a trend upward on the average fee, showing that there are more senior roles being placed on the market.  This is a good sign for the Luxembourg as we shift upward in terms of “skilled” employment
• KR Recruitment has seen a good spread of placements across Financial Services / Banking / Private Banking / Trust / Commerce & Industry / Insurance – all sectors seem to be improving.  There is also a good mix of roles across Tax / Treasury / Accounting / Legal / Operations / Sales
• The market was dynamic with a number of new entrants coming in to the Luxembourg market
• Confidence was restored with Clients (job creation) and Candidates – and so the market was very dynamic and moving toward pre crisis activity

KR Recruitment – Outlook for Q1 2014

• January 2014 has been the best month KR recruitment has seen in the last 3 years, c10-15% above the previous best
• 1/3 of the revenue was generated from new clients – showing dynamic growth in the Luxembourg market
• We have a number of clients starting up new activities in Luxembourg or substantially increasing their footprint / presence in Luxembourg.  Luxembourg seems to be attracting more regional HQs with real substance within their offices here, which is a very positive sign for the wider economy
• The “pipeline” of roles for February 2014 is strong
• KR recruitment has visibility on a number of large projects by key clients in developing the Luxembourg operation further – these should come on line the end of Q1
• All in All, the start to 2014 is very good and we look set to continue the growth trend upward from 2013

KR Recruitment – Examples of roles successfully placed Q4 2013 & January 2014 in the Commerce & Industry Sector

• Head of Internal Audit - €130K (Head Hunt)
• Group CFO - €250K
• Marketing Manager x2 - €70K
• Head of Tax EMEA - €130K
• Finance Analyst  - €70K (Exclusive)
• Finance Manager €90K (Exclusive)
• Senior Real Estate Accountant (x4 Exclusive) - €50-60K
• VAT Supervisor - €60K
• Corporate Secretary / Corporate Admin – €60K
• Senior Lawyer - €120K
• Junior Lawyer - €60K
• Financial Controller - €90K
• German Controller - €60K
• Senior Accountants (various Holding / PE / RE) - €45 -€65K
• Etc…………

New KR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT member : James Bernie

James has over 6 years recruitment experience, specializing in senior appointments in the finance and IT sectors.

Having started recruiting to top positions for IT companies in the UK, he moved into finance where he recruited internationally for leading ratings agencies, before specializing in the mergers and acquisitions area of investment banking for clients in London, Paris and Frankfurt.

James has also spent time teaching English in France and in the Middle East. He is fluent in French and has a BA degree in English from Nottingham University.
 

New KR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT member : Sarah Drews

Sarah is a Recruitment Consultant at KR Recruitment and specialises within the Trust & Fiduciary industry.

 Having grown up in Luxembourg, Sarah is originally from Belgium and therefore speaks fluent English and Dutch.

After attending university in Chicago, where Sarah obtained a BA degree in Organisational Communications, she worked as a Tax Support Officer at Clearstream Banking in Luxembourg before joining the team at KR Recruitment.

New KR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT member : Aidan O'Sullivan

Aidan arrived in Luxembourg in 2008, to work in transfer agency with RBC Investor Services.

He then joined Aviva Investors in 2009, and was in a team responsible for fund oversight, maintaining the relationship between Aviva Investors and their third party administrator.
 
Aidan has a degree in Hotel Management, and have previous experience in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as sales.

Aidan speaks English and French fluently.

New KR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT member : Muriel Newton

Muriel is a Recruitment Consultant at KR Recruitment and specialises within the Insurance industry.

Previously, Muriel worked in London for 5 years as an Actuarial Recruitment Consultant. She focused on the French market where she gained extensive experience within the insurance industry.

Originally from France with a Uruguayan background Muriel speaks fluent French, Spanish and English. She has a Master’s degree in Human Resources from Sorbonne University in Paris.