London executive search has been priced at a third of first-year package for thirty years. We run the same process — scoping, confidential market research, approach, assessment, referencing, offer and onboarding — on a fixed project fee, and you keep the research when it is finished.
A retained London search firm charging 33% of a £200,000 package earns roughly £66,000 for the appointment. A material part of that fee is unrelated to the work involved: the same search, the same number of research hours and the same shortlist would cost a third as much if the successful candidate happened to be on £70,000. The percentage model prices the outcome, not the effort.
We price the effort. The fee is fixed at the point of engagement, based on the seniority and reach of the search rather than the eventual package, and it does not move because a candidate negotiated well. That single change removes the two behaviours London clients complain about most: a consultant with a financial interest in pushing the package up, and a shortlist shaped by who is placeable rather than who is right.
It also changes what you receive. Because we are not protecting a submission, the long list, the market research and the reasoning behind every inclusion and exclusion are part of the deliverable. When the search closes you hold a map of the London market for that role — useful for the next appointment, for succession planning and for the reward conversation that usually follows.
CEO, CFO, COO, CPO, CTO, CIO, managing director, general counsel, non-executive and specialist leadership roles across the London market.
Succession, replacing an incumbent still in post, or a quiet market entry — approaches made without naming the client until a candidate is credible and an NDA is in place.
For regulated appointments we build regulatory references, fit-and-proper checks and approval timelines into the plan rather than discovering them at offer stage.
Long list, market analysis and reward context transfer to you at the close of the search. No platform, no licence, no charge to see your own data again.
Scoping comes first: the role as it genuinely is rather than as the job description describes it, the shape of person who will succeed in your specific governance and culture, the comparator organisations that matter, the reward envelope in pounds and the timetable the business can live with. That conversation produces a written brief and the fixed fee.
Research follows. We map the relevant London population — and the wider UK or international population where the role justifies it — and build the long list from evidenced scope rather than job titles, which in the London market are frequently inflated. You see that long list. Approaches are then made in an agreed sequence, confidentially where required, and candidates are assessed against the brief rather than against each other.
From shortlist onward we manage the process: interview scheduling, structured feedback in both directions, referencing including regulatory references where SMCR applies, reward negotiation against the benchmark data, offer, resignation support through what is often a three to six month notice period, and onboarding contact through the first months in post.
Financial services, banking, insurance, asset and wealth management and FinTech across the City, EC2, EC3 and Canary Wharf. Technology, software, data and AI. Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and health technology. Professional and legal services. Energy, renewables and infrastructure. Consumer, retail and hospitality head office leadership. Media and creative. Real estate and construction consultancy. And private equity portfolio businesses across all of the above.
Functionally, the majority of our London search work sits in general management, finance, technology and engineering leadership, commercial and sales leadership, people and HR leadership, risk, compliance and legal, and operations and supply chain leadership.
Not every senior London vacancy needs a full search. If you have a capable internal team and the constraint is market knowledge rather than process, a talent map or a sourcing project will get you there for considerably less, and we will say so. Where the role is confidential, politically sensitive, or requires a managed process from approach to onboarding, full search is the right instrument.
Because our fee is not contingent on a placement, that recommendation is not a commercial decision dressed up as advice.
With Audentia, a fixed project fee in pounds agreed before the search begins, typically well below the 25–33% of first-year package charged by retained London search firms. The fee reflects the complexity and reach of the search rather than the salary of the person appointed.
Yes, and a large share of our London work is confidential. Approaches are made without naming the client until a candidate is credible and an NDA is in place.
Yes. Regulatory references, fit-and-proper assessment and approval timelines are built into the search plan from the start for Senior Manager Function appointments.
It transfers to you in full — long list, market analysis and reward context. You keep it and can reuse it for succession planning, the next appointment or a reward review.
Yes. The terms are agreed in writing at engagement and set out what happens if an appointment does not work out within the agreed period.
Tell us the market, the role or the question. Thirty minutes is usually enough to know whether we can help and what the right shape of project would be — and the fee is always fixed and agreed before anything begins.
Audentia Research · 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU · +44 2038 077392