A recruiter who claimed in a Channel 4 programme that recruitment agencies discriminated against older accountants said that response to his appearance has been “fantastic”.

Not only have 50 candidates registered with Martin Lloyd-Penny’s Mature Accountant recruitment agency since the Dispatches programme aired on 9 February, but the firm also received three new vacancies in one day last week.

Lloyd-Penny told Recruiter that he had also received numerous emails applauding his efforts to highlight the problems faced by older accountants. And he himself had even been offered a job as a finance director in Kent.

Lloyd-Penny said that accountancy recruiters were primarily interested in newly qualified up to five years post-qualified candidates. “It’s all about the commission,” he said. “Because this group is most in demand it’s the easiest and quickest way for consultants to earn commission.”

He also accused consultants of lacking sector knowledge and commitment. “They could just as well be selling double glazing because candidates are just a commodity for them, ” he claimed.

Fellow recruiters operating in the accountancy sector have given Lloyd-Penny’s comments mixed reviews. Marc Kirsch, managing director of Accountancy Action, refuted Lloyd-Penny’s criticism. “Over half of our consultants are not on commission,” Kirsch told Recruiter.

“We are not accountants, our task is to find jobs and that’s a different skill. It’s a sales industry and people in a sales role have to have enough knowledge to understand the difference between the different types of role, and whether someone has the right personality to fit the culture of a particular organisation. That’s what we are trained to recognise.”

However, Jo Sellick, managing director at Sellick Partnership, added: “It is the sort of consultants that were featured in Dispatches that unfortunately give our industry a bad name. We can provide a long list of older candidates that we have placed really easily with clients — employers are a great deal more open to different ages and levels of experience than the documentary gave them credit for.”