Interim managers are now being paid an average of £585 per day – a record high and up 5.4% on last year’s rates.
Research from provider Russam GMS also found an unprecedented number of interims are undertaking assignments – a rise of 5.1% compared with 2006.
Russam surveyed its database of 8,000 interim executives in June 2007.
Charles Russam, chairman of Russam GMS, said: “These are the highest levels of activity in the interim management sector than at any time recorded since the dot-com boom.
“The prime driver for this boom is strategic business change, rather than the more commonly perceived needs of gap-filling and crisis management assignments.”
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Finance and HR professionals are seeing the greatest demand for their services. The sectors using interims the most were again manufacturing and engineering (13% of all interims) and central and local government (13%), which includes charities.
One-third of interim managers said they would never go back to a permanent job, up 4% from 2006.