Close hits the hiring button

Independent advisory boutique Close Brothers is hiring aggressively in anticipation of an upsurge in business in the final quarter of this year.

A spokesman for the firm says it plans to increase London staff by at least 20% by the end of 2006, bringing the total employed in the City to 120. Additions are also expected in continental Europe.

Close has already added 20 staff in London this year, says the spokesman, and is continuing to expand in the expectation that both M&A and capital markets activity will pick up in the final quarter: "We see an enormous window opening up post the summer - there's an enormous weight of capital out there and there will be a lot of opportunities."

Staff will be added across all areas of the business, including equity capital markets, M&A, restructuring and special situations, and pensions advisory.

The main emphasis will be on adding senior staff who can generate business. Junior and mid-ranking staff will then be hired to build out teams.

Many of the new recruits are expected to come from the corporate finance departments of accountancy firms, which are said to be 'haemorrhaging' employees.