Executive search for consulting Partners and Directors

Retained fees at Partner and Director level are agreed in writing before we start and set out in the engagement letter. At this level the difference between the two is routinely a third of the fee, so we agree the basis in writing before we start rather than arguing it at invoice. We will give you a fee in the first conversation, before you commit to anything.

Typically 8 to 12 weeks from signed brief to accepted offer, with an initial shortlist inside 3 to 6 weeks. The written market map arrives early in the search, the sentiment report at week four, and a shortlist of assessed candidates follows. Team moves run longer — three to nine months — because viability testing precedes any approach. Notice periods and garden leave then sit on top.

Retained search commits dedicated capacity to a small, difficult field and is paid in stages, so the work happens whether or not the market cooperates. Exclusive project search is for a defined role in a broader market: one firm, exclusive for a set period, a single completion fee. At genuine partner level retained is almost always the right instrument — and it signals to senior candidates that the firm is making a considered investment in leadership, not filling a vacancy.

For senior, practice-defining hires, no — we work retained and exclusive, because nobody funds a proper market map on a maybe. Where contingent-style economics genuinely fit is the delivery build-out behind those hires: success-based recruitment of Principals, Managers and Senior Consultants, fees payable only on placement, typically inside a practice-build programme. If that is what you need, say so on the first call.

Less than you expect, but on time. A ninety-minute briefing with whoever will make the decision. A named internal owner. Interview slots held in advance rather than found later. And a straight answer on compensation range and equity route before we approach anyone. In our experience, searches at this level fail on client-side latency more often than on candidate supply — a week of drift costs a candidate.

Yes, and it is a routine requirement — particularly where an appointment touches an incumbent, or where a growth plan is not yet public. We agree at the outset who inside your firm knows, at what stage, and what is put in writing. Candidates are briefed on a need-to-know basis and your firm is not named until you authorise it. We run the same protocol on every team move.

Replacement and rebate terms are agreed in writing at engagement and set out in the engagement letter. What matters more is what sits upstream of them: we assess against partnership criteria and we tell you when the commercial case for a hire does not hold. A guarantee is a backstop, not a hiring strategy.

If they come from our longlist or through our process, the fee applies. If they are genuinely your own candidate, identify them in writing at the briefing and they are excluded from the outset. We would rather have that conversation on day one than after an offer. It takes five minutes and it removes the only argument search firms and clients reliably have.

Yes, and it is often the better first step. We scope it, build the named map, add a compensation and mobility read, and deliver it in writing as a fixed-fee engagement. If you go on to commission a retained search within six months, the mapping fee is credited in full against it. Firms use it to price a growth plan, test a geography, or understand what a competitor’s practice is actually made of.

Not conventional RPO — that is a volume model and volume is not what we do. We offer two embedded arrangements at partner level instead: a fixed-term practice build where we run senior hiring for one practice or geography, and a monthly talent advisory retainer covering mapping, benchmarking and pipeline. Both are priced on access and outcome rather than headcount. For one or two hires a year, a retained search costs you less.