Hoteliers risk losing their accounts staff to other industries unless pay and conditions improve rapidly, warns a survey from recruitment agency David Chorley Associates.

Barnaby Mundell, manager of the firm's hotel and leisure division, said the current shortage of accountancy staff across all sectors had boosted salaries and benefits. This had widened the traditional pay gap between accountants working in hospitality and those working in industries such as manufacturing and banking.

"Good candidates are in demand and recognise their worth," Mundell said, noting that 84% of hoteliers surveyed said their finance staff had been pushing for better deals over the past year.

Rob Maloney, director of accountants recruitment agency Cameron Kennedy Associates, said he had also noted the shortage and the fact that pay and conditions in hospitality still lagged behind other sectors, despite recent improvements. The biggest challenge, he said, was to attract qualified youngsters.

Howard Field, a council member of the British Association of Hotel Accountants, said that accountancy jobs in hotelshad become less secure in recent years as a result of shifts in hotel ownership, organisational changes and new technology. But he questioned whether the pay gap had widened.