Executive search fees are the least transparent number in recruitment, which is odd given how simple the arithmetic is. This page sets out what UK firms charge for a retained search, what the fee is charged on, when it is paid, what it buys, and how it compares with paying a recruitment agency on placement. It also sets out my own fee, which is lower than the market's and fixed at the outset.
What Executive Search Costs in UK Construction
The fee, what it is charged on, when it is paid, and what you get for it.
The headline number
Retained executive search in the UK is charged as a percentage of the appointed leader's first-year total package. The market range is 25 to 35 per cent, with 30 per cent the most common headline rate for a director-level appointment. The larger international firms sit at the top of the range and add administration charges on top; boutique and specialist firms sit at the lower end. Most firms also set a minimum fee, commonly £30,000 to £40,000, that applies whatever the salary.
For a Commercial Director on £150,000 with a £10,000 car allowance, a 30 per cent fee is £48,000. For a regional Managing Director on £200,000 plus package, it is £65,000 and upwards.
My fee is 22.5% of the first-year total package, agreed in full at the outset. There is no minimum fee, no administration charge and no variation if the search runs long. On the Commercial Director above, that is £36,000.
What the fee is charged on
The first-year total package means base salary plus the guaranteed elements of the offer: a car allowance, a signing payment, a guaranteed first-year bonus. Discretionary bonus that has not yet been earned is not part of it, and neither is pension or private medical cover. The basis is agreed in writing before the search starts, so the invoice at the end is arithmetic rather than negotiation.
What the fee pays for
The market map
Every credible person holding the equivalent role across the target businesses, named, with their current remit and likely motivation. Built for your brief, not pulled from a database.
The approaches and the assessment
Personal, confidential conversations with people who are not looking, then interviews and a written appraisal of each person on the shortlist, reservations included.
The appointment itself
The offer, the counter-offer the current employer will make, and the notice period, managed through to a start date. Most searches are lost or won here.
When it is paid
A retained fee is invoiced in stages across the assignment, not on placement. The market convention is three instalments: one to begin the search, one when the shortlist is presented, and one on appointment. That structure is the whole point of the model. The first instalment funds the market map and the approaches, which are the expensive part of the work and the part an agency paid on placement cannot afford to do properly.
Retained fee against contingency fee
Contingency recruitment is charged at 15 to 25 per cent of starting salary, paid only if the person the agency submits is hired. On paper it is cheaper and carries no risk. For the right role it is the better model: where the market is large, the people are active and the cost of a miss is modest, a good agency will fill the seat quickly and the fee is fair.
The economics change at director level. An agency paid only on a placement has every reason to send the people who are available now and likely to accept, and no reason to spend three weeks pursuing a divisional director who is in post, performing well and being looked after. It will also be working your role alongside twenty others. The four CVs that arrive on Friday are the four people the agency already knew, and the same four have gone to your competitor. The percentage is lower because the service is different, not because the same work is being done for less.
The honest comparison is not 22.5 per cent against 20 per cent. It is a mapped, assessed shortlist of people who were not looking, against a screen of people who were.
The expensive search is the one that goes wrong
A Commercial Director who lasts fourteen months costs a region far more than any fee.
The question is not what the search costs. It is what a properly run search saves.
What a wrong appointment costs
A Commercial Director who lasts fourteen months costs a region the salary and package for the period, the fee for the search that replaces them, the distraction of the Managing Director for a quarter, and whatever went wrong in the final accounts while the seat was unsettled. The last item is usually the largest and never appears on the recruitment budget. On a £300 million portfolio, a single mishandled final account outweighs every fee on this page.
That is what the written appraisal on each shortlisted person is for, and why it names the reservations as well as the strengths. It is also why the managed offer and notice period matter: most searches that fail do so between the accepted offer and the start date, when the current employer makes a counter-offer nobody planned for.
The fee is agreed once, and it does not move
My fee is 22.5% of the appointed leader's first-year total package, fixed at the outset for the assignment. There is no minimum fee, no administration charge and no variation if the search runs long. If the right answer turns out to be the internal leader you already have, I will say so before the second invoice.
Questions to ask before agreeing a fee
Who will do the work: the person you brief, or a researcher you will never meet. How many people will be mapped before the first approach is made, and will you see the map. Does the shortlist come with a written assessment of each person, including the reservations. What is the fee charged on, and is it fixed. What happens if the appointed leader's employer counter-offers. And what happens if they leave within the first months.
A firm that answers all six clearly is worth paying. The answers for my own searches are on this page, on the method page, and under construction executive search.
Common questions
How much does executive search cost in the UK?
Retained executive search in the UK is typically charged at 25 to 35 per cent of the appointed leader's first-year total package, with 30 per cent the most common headline rate. Larger international firms sit at the top of that range and add administration charges; most also set a minimum fee of £30,000 to £40,000 whatever the salary. My fee is 22.5%, with no minimum and no extras.
What is the fee charged on?
The appointed leader's first-year total package: base salary plus the guaranteed elements of the offer, such as a car allowance or a signing payment. Discretionary bonus that has not yet been earned is not part of the calculation. The basis is agreed in writing before the search starts, so there is no argument about it at the end.
When is a retained search fee paid?
In stages across the assignment rather than on placement. The market convention is three instalments: one to begin the search, one when the shortlist is presented and one on appointment. That structure is what funds the mapping and the approaches; a fee paid only at the end funds neither.
What does a contingency recruiter charge?
Contingency recruitment is charged at 15 to 25 per cent of starting salary, paid only if the person the agency submits is hired. It is the right model for roles where the market is large and the people are active. It is the wrong model for a director-level appointment, because the agency has every reason to send the people who are available and none to spend weeks on the divisional director who is in post and performing.
What do I receive for the fee?
A written brief and profile agreed before anyone is approached; a market map of every credible person in the equivalent role; personal approaches to each; a shortlist of four to six, every one interviewed, with a written appraisal covering capability, motivation, current package and the reservations; and the management of the offer, the counter-offer and the notice period to a start date. The stages, and what lands at the end of each, are set out on the method page.
How long does a retained search take?
Six to eight weeks from brief to accepted offer for a director-level role. Mapping and approach take the first three weeks, first interviews land around week four, and the shortlist and final stages follow. A Managing Director or board search runs longer. Notice periods in construction are three to six months at this level.
Is there a guarantee?
If the appointed leader leaves within the first months of the appointment, the search is re-run without a further fee. The exact period is agreed with the fee at the outset. In practice the appraisal and the managed notice period are what prevent it being needed.
Is a cheaper search worth having?
A lower percentage from a firm that will advertise the role and screen applicants is not a cheaper search; it is a different and cheaper service. The questions to ask any firm are who will do the work, how many people they will map before the first approach, whether the shortlist comes with written assessments, and what happens when the appointed leader's employer counter-offers.
Start a conversation
If you are weighing a search, I will tell you what it would involve and what it would cost before you decide, and I will tell you if a search is not the right answer. No hard sell, no obligation.
How a search runs, stage by stage, is on the method page. The full service is set out under construction executive search and retained executive search.
