Private Equity
Finance Recruitment.

Senior finance appointments into private equity-backed businesses: Chief Financial Officer, Finance Director, VP Finance, Group Financial Controller and Financial Controller.

We work directly with the CEOs and CFOs of PE-backed ventures, from the first institutional finance hire after investment through to strengthening the team ahead of an exit.

The finance leader has to give real direction to the CEO while also producing the reporting the PE firm relies on. Get it wrong and it shows up quickly in board packs and investor calls; get it right and it becomes one of the most valuable relationships in the business.

The hire has to be technically strong and credible in front of investors, not one or the other.

Over 60% of our placements are headhunted rather than advertised. We build a target list from original research and three decades of network across private equity and its portfolio companies, then approach those people directly and in confidence.

The timeline is set by your needs and priorities, and we agree it with you at the briefing.

Because the shortlist is built from active research and direct approaches rather than waiting on applications, a focused search moves at a predictable pace, and we run as much or as little of the interview process as you need.

We work on a retained, fixed-fee basis. The fee is agreed at the outset and does not change with the candidate's salary, so you know the full cost of the search from the start.

Every search is also covered by a replacement guarantee.

Mainly at portfolio-company level, working directly with the CEO and CFO of the PE-backed venture, though we are often introduced by the investors behind the business. Our focus is the finance leadership that runs the company day to day and reports to its owners.

Every consultant is a qualified accountant who has held senior finance positions, so technical acumen is assessed directly rather than assumed.

The firm has won the FDs' Excellence Awards, sponsored by the ICAEW, four consecutive times, ahead of Michael Page, Robert Walters, Robert Half, Reed Accountancy and Hays.

At 23 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London. Most of our work is in London, and we search across the UK and Europe when a client needs it.