The concept of interim management sits on a long tradition of engaging people with specialist skills or knowledge for a limited period of time dating back to 3rd century BC Rome at least.

Emerging from various forms of freelance work, interim management started to take shape in the UK economy towards the end of the 1980s and by the early-mid 1990s, was starting to become understood within the private sector. On the back of the economic recession of the time, larger organisations went through a period of ‘de-layering’, which included removing many older, more experienced people from the payroll. Having reduced the payroll cost, companies then realised that they had done this at the expense of lost expertise, resulting in older people being hired in on a temporary basis to get things done.

By the end of the 1990s, it had become clear that interim management ( defined as: the provision of effective organisation solutions by a high-impact, independent senior executive, for an agreed time period with delegated authority for the application of all relevant resources during the assignment – currently used by the Institute of Interim Management) was being actively promoted by both individual interims themselves and a growing band of interim service providers.

At the end of the 1990s, the UK Treasury was starting to become concerned at a fall in its National Insurance Tax take, which was identified as being due to the large number of (IT) workers leaving full time employment and being re-engaged by their previous employers as contractors. This led to the creation of the ‘Intermediaries Legislation’, commonly known as IR35. Even today, this remains a source of much debate and frustration within the UK’s national strategy to promote a ‘flexible workforce’, with around 5 million people operating under the overall freelance remit.

On 2nd April 2001, the Institute of Interim Management (IIM) was formally constituted . Over its near 20 years of operation, it has seen a rapid extension of the interim management approach, beyond the private sector, into the third sector and across the whole public sector; the latter ranging from cabinet office to local government departments.

The UK interim market is regarded as one of the most ‘mature’ national markets, with its interims being recognised as providing a world class service, both at home and internationally. There are two major routes to client acquisition: the interim’s own network (about 60% of the market) and through interim service providers – ISPs (about 40% of the market). This latter proportion is significantly higher than is found in other national markets.

Interim management in the UK covers all organisational functions, with practitioners offering both in-depth functional knowledge and wide expertise that extends across many sectors of economic endeavour. Establishing an accurate number of senior interims across the UK is notoriously difficult but the IIM estimates the number to be in the region of 3000-5000.

To be successful as an interim requires a different balance of personal attitudes and behaviours compared with the typical permanently employed person. In a nutshell, being a highly successful corporate executive does not guarantee a continuation of this theme as an interim. The IIM has produced a guide on becoming an interim which points to the personal transformation required.

Tony Evans