Recruiters have refuted claims of age discrimination made in a  Channel 4 programme last night.

The Dispatches programme featured Martin Lloyd-Penny, founder of the Mature Accountant recruitment agency, and his 25-year-old daughter.

Each registered with the same six or seven accountancy recruiters, none of whom were named. However, whereas Lloyd-Penny’s daughter, a Cambridge graduate about to qualify as an ACA, was contacted by one agency early the next morning,  the same agencies managed to ‘lose’ his CV.

Among the reasons agencies gave Lloyd-Penny for not contacting him were he was overqualified, and that he might get bored. One said it had nothing to offer him, despite 30 years’ experience as an  accountant up to financial director level.

Marc Kirsch, managing director of Accountancy Action, told Recruiter: “We put forward the best person for the role, regardless of age, or race or any of the other things we are not allowed to do these days.”                                                         

Michelle Gibbs, a senior consultant at Nigel Lynn, told Recruiter that  she was wasn’t surprised this sort of thing happens. However, she adds: “It’s not something that has been an issue for us and is quite contrary to the way we operate as a business because we don’t discriminate in any way.”