Retained executive search
Retained executive search for critical leadership appointments.
We identify, assess and secure senior executives and board directors for organisations navigating growth, transformation and succession. Exclusive mandates, original research, partner-led throughout.
- Board, C-suite and functional leadership
- Confidential mandates as standard
- Written assessment and market coverage
C-suite
Appointment level
Chief executives, functional leaders and board directors — not volume recruitment.
Retained
Engagement model
Exclusive mandates, original research, and a partner accountable for the outcome.
35+
Markets covered
Search and research capability across Europe, the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific.
12
Stage methodology
Mandate definition through to a formal review six months after appointment.
Why a search firm, not an agency
We are not a CV-forwarding recruitment agency.
Boards engage us when the appointment carries consequence — a first external chief executive, a CFO before a transaction, a director who must strengthen a governance gap. That work requires research, discretion and evidence, not a database search and a fast submission.
Client servicesResearch, not database recall
Every mandate begins with an original map of the relevant leadership market. We are paid to find the executives who are not looking.
Our approachPartner-led throughout
The partner who takes the mandate conducts the approaches, the assessment and the shortlist meeting. Nothing is handed to a delivery desk.
Our approachEvidence a board can act on
Written assessment against an agreed profile, formal referencing, and a documented record of market coverage.
Our approachClient partnerships
Organisations we have partnered with.
A selection of client relationships, shown with consent. Confidential mandates and client identities are never published.
Industrials & Manufacturing
Group and divisional leadership appointments across three European operating companies.
View practice
Energy & Infrastructure
Executive committee build-out through a period of regulated capital investment.
View practice
Technology & Cybersecurity
Confidential CTO and security leadership mandates during a platform re-architecture.
View practice
Life Sciences & Healthcare
Commercial leadership ahead of first launch across multiple European markets.
View practice
Financial Services
Board and audit-committee appointments for regulated portfolio businesses.
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Aerospace & Defence
Programme and engineering leadership under security-cleared mandate conditions.
View practiceClient services
Search, board and leadership advisory.
Nine defined services for boards, investors and chief executives — from a single retained mandate to continuous leadership-market intelligence.
Retained Executive Search
Exclusive, research-led search for appointments the organisation cannot afford to get wrong.
Read more 02C-Suite Search
CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, CIO, CISO, CHRO, CMO and General Counsel appointments.
Read more 03Board & Non-Executive Director Search
Chair, NED, independent director and committee appointments.
Read more 04Confidential Leadership Search
When the appointment cannot be public.
Read more 05Executive Talent Mapping
Research sold on its own merits, ahead of any appointment.
Read more 06Succession Planning
Internal benchmarking against the external market.
Read more 07Leadership Advisory
Team effectiveness, structure and onboarding beyond the appointment.
Read more 08Market Intelligence
Compensation, mobility and leadership-market data for board decisions.
Read more 09Executive Assessment
Structured evaluation of candidates and incumbent leaders.
Read morePractice areas
Where we search.
Industrials & Manufacturing
CEO · COO · Group Operations Director
Energy & Infrastructure
CEO · CFO · Chief Development Officer
Technology & Cybersecurity
CTO · CIO · CISO
Life Sciences & Healthcare
CEO · Chief Medical Officer · Chief Commercial Officer
Financial Services & Investment
CEO · CFO · Chief Risk Officer
Aerospace & Defence
Managing Director · Programme Director · Chief Engineer
Professional Services
Managing Partner · Practice Leader · Chief Operating Officer
Consumer & Retail
CEO · Chief Commercial Officer · Chief Digital Officer
Executive functions
C-Suite
Executive functions
Functional leadership
Why retained search
Retained search and contingent recruitment are different products.
Contingent recruitment is a legitimate model for volume and speed. It is not built for appointments where the market must be covered systematically, the approach must be discreet, and the board needs written evidence before it decides.
Selected search mandates
Completed work, anonymised.
Chief Executive Officer
Industrial Technology · Europe
The board required a first external CEO able to professionalise the operating model without losing the engineering culture that created the business.
Appointed a divisional CEO from a listed industrial group; the founder moved to Executive Chair as part of the agreed transition.
Read the case studyChief Financial Officer
Private Equity Portfolio Company · United Kingdom
A CFO with integration experience across multiple acquisitions and credibility with lenders, recruited confidentially while the incumbent remained in post.
Appointed within eleven weeks; refinancing completed the following quarter.
Read the case studyChief Commercial Officer
Life Sciences · Switzerland
Launch experience in the relevant therapeutic area was held by a population of fewer than forty accessible executives across Europe.
Mapped the full population, approached twenty-two, presented a shortlist of four and completed the appointment.
Read the case studyChief Technology Officer
Advanced Manufacturing · Germany
Bridging a traditional engineering organisation and a software roadmap, with supervisory board approval required at each stage.
Appointed a CTO from an automotive tier-one supplier; two further leadership hires followed.
Read the case studyNon-Executive Director, Audit Chair
Financial Services · United Kingdom
Audit committee chair with regulatory credibility and sector-relevant experience, appointed to a defined skills gap.
Two candidates presented to the nomination committee; appointment approved without a second search round.
Read the case studyChief Information Security Officer
Energy & Infrastructure · Nordics
Operational-technology security experience combined with the seniority to hold the executive committee to account.
Appointed from a utility in an adjacent market; the mandate included a compensation benchmarking exercise for the wider security function.
Read the case studyOur search process
A twelve-stage methodology, in three phases.
Mandate & market
We agree the leadership profile with the board, then map the accessible market through original research.
Inside this phase
Approach & assessment
Partner-led approaches to executives who are not looking, assessed against the agreed profile in writing.
Inside this phase
Appointment & transition
Shortlist, referencing, offer negotiation, announcement, and a formal review six months in.
Inside this phaseOur consultants
Partner-led, every mandate
Client and candidate feedback
What clients say about the work.
Feedback is collected in writing at the close-out review of a completed mandate, and published only with the author's consent. Because our mandates are retained and usually confidential, every entry is anonymised: we withhold the individual's name, their employer, the appointed executive's identity and any detail that could identify the search. What remains — the person's role, the type of organisation and the market — is accurate and unedited beyond that redaction.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know
Approached by us and want to check we are who we say we are? Read the full questions and answers for executives.
Start a conversation
Discuss a mandate in confidence.
Tell us about the appointment, the business context and the confidentiality it requires. A partner will respond directly, and there is no obligation to proceed to a mandate.