London agency fees of 15–25% of salary buy you research and outreach dressed up as a placement. We do the same identification, approach and qualification for your London vacancies on a fixed project fee — and every candidate record stays with you.
London has more candidates than any other UK market and it is still hard to hire in. The reasons are structural: the strongest people are not applying to anything, the same shortlists circulate between agencies, hybrid expectations vary wildly between employers in the same postcode, and three-month notice periods mean a process that starts late finishes very late indeed.
Sourcing addresses the first of those directly. We research the London market that exists rather than the portion of it currently on a job board, approach people who were not looking, and qualify them properly before anything reaches your hiring manager. That qualification is where most London shortlists fall apart, so it is deliberately specific: Right to Work position, realistic commute from their actual home location, hybrid expectation against your actual policy, salary expectation in pounds against your actual band, and contractual notice.
Because the fee is fixed, none of that qualification is softened to protect a submission. If a candidate is on six months' notice and wants four days at home against your three-day policy, you will be told that on the profile rather than in week seven.
Candidates identified across the whole London market, including people who have never had a CV in circulation and are not on any job board.
Right to Work, home location and commute, hybrid expectation, salary expectation in pounds and notice period, established before the profile is sent.
Approaches made in your name where you want employer brand front and centre, or confidentially where you are sourcing from a named competitor.
What London candidates said about your role, your package and your hybrid policy — which is often the most valuable part of the project.
We start with the brief and the hiring manager, not the job description. Half of all failed London searches fail because the written specification and the actual requirement are different documents. From that conversation we define the target population: which employers are genuinely comparable, which titles map to the real scope, which London sub-markets to work, and where the boundaries of acceptable commute and hybrid sit.
Research and outreach then run in cycles, with a check-in after the first tranche of responses so the targeting can be adjusted while it still matters. Candidates who engage are qualified by a researcher against the agreed criteria and written up as a structured profile. You receive profiles as they are ready rather than in a single batch at the end, which in a London market with three-month notice periods is worth several weeks.
At the close of the project you receive the vetted shortlist, every profile produced along the way including the near-misses, the full contact detail, and a written summary of what the market said about the role. All of it is yours permanently.
A London contingency agency at 20% of a £80,000 salary charges £16,000 for the hire. A retained search on a £150,000 package at 28% charges £42,000. In both cases the underlying work is research, outreach and qualification, and in both cases the price is set by the salary rather than by the work.
Charging for the work rather than the salary is why clients typically see a 40–60% reduction, and why the saving grows as the salary rises. It is also why multiple similar roles cost less per role: a single research population supports several vacancies, which a per-placement fee structure has no way to reflect.
Financial services, banking, insurance and FinTech across the City and Canary Wharf. Technology, software, data and AI. Life sciences and health technology. Professional services, legal and consulting. Media, creative and marketing. Consumer and retail head office functions. Energy, renewables and infrastructure. Property, real estate and construction consultancy. Charity, education and the public sector.
Clients typically see a 40–60% reduction against London contingency and retained agency fees, because the fee is based on research hours rather than a percentage of salary. The saving increases with the salary and with the number of similar roles in the brief.
We establish the candidate's stated Right to Work position as part of qualification so you are not discovering a visa requirement at offer stage. The formal statutory check remains the employer's responsibility, and our compliance support service can run that process for you.
Yes, and it is usually more efficient. A single researched population frequently supports several related vacancies, which is reflected in the project fee.
Yes, where that is lawful and appropriate. Approaches can be made confidentially without naming you until a candidate is credible.
They stay with you. Every profile, note and contact detail produced during the project transfers to you and can be re-approached at any time at no further cost.
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