Retained Headhunt & Executive Search
TL;DR
This is not recruitment for “important-ish” roles.
This is for business-critical hires where getting it wrong is expensive, public, and painful.
Our retained headhunt and executive search service is designed for senior leadership hires where:
- The role will make or break growth
- The wrong person would set you back months, not years
- Speed matters, but certainty matters more
- You want the right person, not the available one
If you need a senior hire you can quietly trust to deliver, lead, and stick, this is for you.
If you want a pile of CVs and a prayer, it isn’t.
For the deets peeps:
Retained headhunt and executive search exists for one reason: risk reduction.
At senior level, hiring mistakes are not minor inconveniences. They ripple.
They hit revenue, morale, delivery, reputation, and sometimes your own credibility.
This service is built for moments when:
- A leadership gap is holding the business back
- A previous senior hire looked great but didn’t deliver
- The business has outgrown its current capability
- Investor, board, or market pressure is increasing
- You cannot afford another “we’ll see how they do”
This is not volume hiring.
This is deliberate, discreet, high-accountability search.
This is probably you if…
You are scaling fast and the leadership team needs to level up.
The founder energy that got you here is not enough to get you where you are going. You need operators, not passengers.
You are accountable to a board or investors
And you know that signing off the wrong senior hire would come back to haunt you.
You have been burned before
By a senior hire who interviewed brilliantly, talked a great game, and then quietly failed to execute.
You are tired of surface-level recruitment
Agencies that send CVs, avoid challenge, and disappear once the offer is signed.
You need someone who can lead through change
Without drama, ego, or cultural wreckage.
If any of that made you nod rather than wince, keep reading.
What makes this different
We do not start with job ads.
We start with what the business actually needs, not what the job description says.
That means:
- Proper scoping of outcomes, not just responsibilities
- Challenging assumptions early, even if it’s uncomfortable
- Benchmarking against what “good” really looks like at your stage
- Actively headhunting people who are not applying anywhere
Most senior leaders are not scrolling job boards.
We go and find them, assess them properly, and tell you the truth about them.
No smoke. No mirrors. No sugar-coating.
What you get
- A focused, retained executive search process
- Direct headhunting of senior, passive candidates
- Honest market insight, not yes-people recruitment
- Structured assessment that goes beyond “good chat”
- Fewer candidates, better conversations, stronger decisions
- A hire who can deliver, not just survive onboarding
And crucially, you get confidence.
Confidence that this hire was done properly.
Who this is not for:
- “Let’s just see who’s out there”
- Roles that can tolerate churn
- Businesses unwilling to be challenged
- Anyone looking for the cheapest option
Premium problems require premium thinking.
Retained headhunt and executive search, done properly
If the role matters, the process should too.
If you are hiring at senior leadership or executive level and want to reduce risk, protect momentum, and make a decision you can stand behind, this is where we come in.
If you are ready to have a grown-up conversation about what the business really needs next, let’s talk.
What Our Customers Say
“Recruit Recruit enabled us to move effectively and efficiently from a single employee to over 220 in less than 20 months as we moved quickly through
the gears from start up to a £30m turnover business."
Peter Watts, CEO, Your Doctor Film & Media
Contact Us
If you need any help with your hiring, or people problems, get in touch and we can see how we can help you: