Found where others don't look.
The considered mandate. Getting it right matters more than getting it fast.
Some searches cannot afford to be wrong. A senior management appointment — a Finance Director, a Head of Legal, a Chief People Officer — shapes the business for years. The wrong hire at this level is not a setback. It is a significant cost in time, money, and momentum.
Retained Search exists for these appointments. It is a full engagement — HID_EN as your search partner from the moment the brief is agreed to the moment the appointment is made. Every stage is methodical. Every candidate is assessed with the same rigour. The process is not rushed because the decision is not reversible.
Retained Search begins with deep market mapping before a single approach is made. We spend the first phase understanding the landscape — who the relevant candidates are, where they are, and what it would take to bring them into a conversation. This is intelligence work, not a database search.
We then make direct, personal approaches to the candidates we have identified as most likely to be right for your brief. Every candidate who enters the process is assessed — for competence, character, and cultural fit. What we present at shortlist is not a list. It is a recommendation, with the reasoning behind each person clearly articulated.
The role is never advertised. The search is fully confidential throughout. The fee structure is one third upfront, one third on shortlist, and one third on placement — a structure that aligns our incentives with yours at every stage.
Retained Search is the right model for senior management appointments and sensitive replacements — roles where the business cannot afford to get it wrong, where confidentiality is non-negotiable, and where the quality of the process is as important as the quality of the outcome.
It suits businesses that have tried contingency search for a senior role and found it inadequate — where the CVs that came back were not right, where the process felt unmanaged, or where the sensitivity of the search was not respected. It also suits businesses making their first senior hire who want to do it properly from the outset.
A thorough brief session — not a form, a conversation. We want to understand the business, the role, the context, and what the right person looks like. We will ask questions that most agencies do not think to ask.
Before any approach is made, we map the relevant talent pool in full. We identify who exists, who is performing, and who is most likely to be right for your brief. This phase typically takes one to two weeks.
We approach candidates directly and personally. Every candidate who progresses is assessed in depth — for competence, character, and cultural fit. We do not present anyone we would not recommend.
We present a recommendation — not a shortlist. Each person is presented with a clear rationale. We support through offer, negotiation, acceptance, and start. We remain available through the first ninety days.
Retained Search typically runs over six to twelve weeks from brief to appointment. The timeline is driven by the quality of the process, not by pressure to close. You will receive a structured update at each stage — market mapping findings, candidate progress, and shortlist recommendation — with the reasoning behind every decision clearly explained.
We do not disappear between updates. If something significant emerges — a candidate who is particularly strong, a market insight that changes the picture — you will hear about it immediately. Decisions are made together, at the pace the right decision requires.
A privately owned professional services business needed a Finance Director following the departure of a long-standing incumbent. The search was sensitive — the role could not be advertised, and the business could not risk the market knowing it was open.
HID_EN ran a fully confidential retained search over eight weeks. The successful candidate was a senior finance professional at a competitor business who had not considered moving. They were appointed at month three and remain in post.
Tell us about the appointment. We will tell you whether Retained Search is the right model for it.
Start the search.