We run the search for you.

Two routes to a senior appointment, priced on the same principle: the fee is proportional to the seat. On a part-time search, none of it falls due until an appointment is made. Every number is agreed in writing before you commit, and the operator never pays us anything.

Fractional
Operator Search
A search run against your brief, with every candidate assessed before you meet them.
To start£0no engagement fee, and none to see the shortlist
If you hire10%of annualised value, minimum £3,500
  • Three candidates, researched and assessed against the brief, in five business days
  • A CV, a confirmed rate and confirmed availability, with the case for each
  • A second shortlist at no further fee, if none of the three is right
  • The search runs across the wider market wherever the brief calls for it
  • A six-month replacement guarantee behind the appointment
Full-time
Retained Search
Through our retained search practice, with our search partner.
To startOn retaineragreed in writing before anything begins
If you hireRetainer crediteda percentage of first-year base
  • A full market search, conducted end to end by our search partner
  • Structured referencing, with the interview process managed throughout
  • First introductions within one business day of the brief
  • A replacement guarantee behind the appointment
  • Their fee is the only fee, and we add nothing on top

Terms: everything that decides what you pay

Ten points, plain English
Proposals
We reply to every brief within one business day with what we recommend and an exact fee. Nothing is charged before you accept it.
When a fee falls due before an appointment
Only where a brief requires a search across the wider market, agreed in writing before it begins. It pays for that work, it stands whether or not an appointment follows, and it is not credited against the success fee.
The success fee
10% of annualised value, minimum £3,500, due only if you engage somebody we introduced, within 12 months of that introduction. If no appointment is made, nothing is due.
What annualised value means
The operator’s agreed fee for their first twelve months: the day rate multiplied by the days committed, or the monthly retainer multiplied by twelve. Fixed from the engagement as agreed at the start, and it does not move afterwards if the engagement grows or shrinks.
Candidates you source yourself
The success fee applies only to operators we introduce through a search. No fee is due on anyone you find and book yourself on the bench, whether or not you have also sent us a brief.
Replacement guarantee
If the operator leaves or is stood down within six months, we run the search again at no further fee. It is a re-search, not a refund.
Invoicing and cancellation
The success fee is invoiced after the engagement is agreed, never before. If the engagement is called off before your operator does any work, tell us and we cancel it.
Permanent appointments
Contracted with our search partner on their terms, on retainer, agreed in writing before anything starts. Their fee is the only fee: we add nothing on top and we are paid through the partnership.
What the operator pays
Nothing, ever, on either offer. Every fee comes from you, not from them. You contract and pay the operator directly, and we take no share of their rate.
How a shortlist is built
On fit to your brief alone: sector, stage, seat, availability and verified track record. No operator can pay to be on a shortlist, to rank higher on one, or to break a tie. There is no plan that changes this.

Questions companies ask before briefing us

Eleven questions, plain English
What does Operator Search cost?
Nothing to start. There is no engagement fee to brief us and none to see the shortlist we present. The fee is 10% of annualised value, with a minimum of £3,500, and it is due only if you appoint somebody we introduced. If no appointment is made, nothing is due.
What does annualised value mean?
The operator's agreed fee for their first twelve months: the day rate multiplied by the days committed, or the monthly retainer multiplied by twelve. It is fixed from the engagement as agreed at the start, and it does not move afterwards if the engagement grows or shrinks. A CFO at two days a week on a typical rate works out at roughly £90,000 a year, so the fee on that seat is about £9,000.
When is the fee due?
It is invoiced after the engagement is agreed, never before, and only where the appointment happens within 12 months of the introduction. If the engagement is called off before your operator does any work, tell us and we cancel it.
What happens if none of the three is right?
We source a second shortlist at no further fee. Tell us within 14 days of delivery and we go again on the same brief.
What if the operator leaves?
A six-month replacement guarantee sits behind the appointment. If they leave or are stood down inside that window we run the search again at no further fee. It commits us to a re-search rather than to a refund, which is the convention across search and worth knowing before you rely on it.
Is anything charged before an appointment is made?
Only in one case. Where a brief cannot be answered without a search across the wider market, that work is quoted at £2,500 and agreed in writing before it begins. It pays for the work, it stands whether or not an appointment follows, and it is not credited against the success fee.
What if we hire somebody we found ourselves?
No fee is due. The success fee applies only to operators we introduce through a search. Anyone you find and book yourself on the bench is yours, whether or not you have also sent us a brief.
Does the operator pay anything?
Nothing, ever, on either offer. Every fee comes from the company. You contract and pay the operator directly and we take no share of their rate.
How quickly does a shortlist arrive?
Three candidates, researched and assessed against the brief, within five business days of an accepted brief. We reply to every brief within one business day with what we recommend and an exact fee.
Who runs a full-time, permanent search?
Our retained search practice, with our search partner, on a percentage of first-year base agreed in writing before anything starts. Their fee is the only fee: we add nothing on top and we are paid through the partnership.
Can an operator pay to be on a shortlist?
No, and there is no plan that changes it. Shortlists are built on fit to the brief alone: sector, stage, seat, availability and verified track record. A company paying for the best three has to receive the best three, not the best three who paid.