Recruiters of interim managers should adopt partnership approaches with their clients to achieve better results.

That's the view of Tony Evans, chairman of the Institute of Interim Management, who spoke at last month's meeting of the Recruitment Society.

Evans told members that an increasing need for experienced change managers to handle specific projects had contributed to the boom in demand for interim managers.

The interim management market is estimated to be worth almost £1bn in fees paid, almost double what it was 10 years ago.

Evans warned, however, that there were inevitable downsides to working as an interim. "There is no guarantee that you'll ever work again," he said.

Evans argued that, moving forward, a partnership approach was necessary. "Interim agreements will have to be far more visibly 'together'", he added. "It has yet to be seen as having the trappings of a true profession."

Meanwhile, Peter Sanderson, managing director of Boyden Interim Management, told the gathering that change and transition on the part of clients was driving the interim market, leading to margins of more than 20% for recruiters.

An increase in private equity investment was also leading to greater demand for interims, he added.