Such appointments were widely predicted following last year’s revisions to the combined code for corporate governance. One recruiter predicted, Higgs would set of “the biggest game of musical chairs ever”.

The guiding principles stipulated by Derek Higgs in his review, and subsequently written into the Combined Code for corporate governance included responsibilities for presenting balanced and understandable assessments in the company’s financial statements. Responsibilities were defined for monitoring internal controls, risk management and relationships with auditors.

Most crucially, principle C.3 on audit committees and auditors held that the audit committee should comprise at least three independent non-executive directors, one of whom “should have recent relevant financial experience”.

Hamish Kidd, a director of City search consultancy Clive & Stokes confirmed that demand had increased from companies looking for non-executive directors qualified to take on the audit committee role defined by Higgs.

“Often the present board will be looking for a new non-executive director and feel it doesn’t have a strong financial representation. Or the members will be scared of the amount of work involved in the audit committee chairman’s role and that someone more qualified would be able to do it faster,” Kidd said.

While the requirement to have someone abile and willing to take on the audit committee role, “the responsibility these people take on their shoulders is not always welcome”, he added.

The remuneration of audit committee chairman was a common subject among boards, with pressure for increased payment offset by those who argued that money could be more wisely spent investing in indemnity insurance to protect errant directors from bankruptcy.