UK construction headhunters typically charge 25 to 35 per cent of the appointed leader's first-year total package for a retained search, often with a minimum fee of £30,000 to £40,000; my fee is 22.5%, with no minimum.
How much do construction headhunters charge?
The fee, what it is charged on, and what it buys.
Last updated 1 November 2026. By Scott Lechley, founder of Lechley Associates. Quantity Surveyor from 1990 to 2002, construction executive search since 2002.
The numbers
- Market rate for retained search: 25 to 35 per cent of the first-year total package, with 30 per cent the most common headline rate for a director-level seat.
- Minimum fee: most firms set one, commonly £30,000 to £40,000, whatever the salary.
- My fee: 22.5% of the first-year total package, fixed at the outset, with no minimum fee, no administration charge and no variation if the search runs long.
- A worked example: for a Commercial Director on £150,000 with a £10,000 car allowance, a 30 per cent fee is £48,000. At 22.5% it is £36,000.
- Contingency recruitment: 15 to 25 per cent of starting salary, paid only if the person the agency submits is hired.
- When a retained fee is paid: in three instalments, one to begin the search, one when the shortlist is presented and one on appointment.
In more detail
The fee is charged on the first-year total package: base salary plus the guaranteed elements of the offer, such as a car allowance, a signing payment or a guaranteed first-year bonus. Discretionary bonus not yet 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.
The staged payment is what funds the work. The first instalment pays for the market map and the personal approaches to people who are not looking, which are the expensive part of a search and the part an agency paid on placement cannot afford to do properly. If the appointed leader leaves within the first months, the search is re-run without a further fee, over a period agreed with the fee at the outset.
Read more
- Executive search fees: the full page on what a retained search costs, what the fee buys and how it compares with contingency.
- Retained search or a recruitment agency?: the difference between the two models, in one page.
- How to choose an executive search firm: the questions to put to any firm before you agree a fee.
Common questions
Is there a minimum fee?
Most UK search firms set one, commonly £30,000 to £40,000, that applies whatever the salary. I do not: my fee is 22.5% of the first-year total package with no minimum, no administration charge and no variation if the search runs long.
What does the fee buy?
A written brief agreed before anyone is approached, a map of every credible person in the equivalent role, personal approaches to each, a shortlist of four to six with a written appraisal of every one, and the management of the offer, the counter-offer and the notice period to a start date.
Is a lower percentage a cheaper search?
Not usually. A lower percentage from a firm that will advertise the role and screen applicants is a different and cheaper service, not the same work done for less. Ask who will do the work, how many people will be mapped before the first approach, and whether the shortlist comes with written assessments.
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.
