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Portfolio Chief Technology OfficerExecutive search consultancy · executive recruitment consultancy · senior appointments
Executive Search Consultancy · how a search consultancy works, and when you need one
An executive search consultancy — also called an executive recruitment consultancy or headhunter — finds a senior leader for one appointment, usually on an exclusive, retained basis. Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or run consulting projects. We find the interim, fractional or permanent leader for your brief, and they contract with you directly. We recruit permanent executives as well as fractional and interim ones, on a brief-and-shortlist model rather than a retained search — and we say so here.
Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 4 sources linked below
- 3–5our shortlist
Fractional seats our founder has held
Climatise
One Up Productions
CK Delta
In the press
- Financial TimesThe executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance
- International FinanceRenting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived
The agency
What an executive search consultancy does
This page explains how a search consultancy works, when it is the right buy, and when a recruitment agency’s shortlist — for a fractional, interim or permanent seat — fits the brief better. The board below shows current executive roles.
A search consultancy is engaged for one senior appointment. It agrees the brief with the board, maps the market, approaches people who are not looking, assesses a long list, presents a shortlist and supports the offer and the first months. The work is usually exclusive and paid in staged instalments, whatever the outcome.
The word "consultancy" reflects the advisory side of that work — the brief, the assessment, the market view — not a management consultancy. Many search firms also offer leadership consulting: assessment, succession and board reviews.
Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or run consulting projects. We find the interim, fractional or permanent leader for your brief, and they contract with you directly.
The firms that run retained search, profiled from their own sites: retained executive search firms. How retained search compares with fractional and interim: fractional executive search firms. Our own model for every seat: executive recruitment agency.
On the board · last 90 days
Current executive roles on the board
From our jobs feed. Where a posting states no rate, “est” is our estimate from the seat’s published band; ◆ marks days a week the posting states.
9 of 9 roles
Function
Engagement
- Reg Advantage LtdSyndicatedFractionalProduction Lead and Fractional CTO
- CivSec GroupSyndicatedFractionalAcquisition CFO / Finance Director (Fractional)
- Algorithmiq OySyndicatedFractionalFractional Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- Flat IronSyndicatedFractionalFractional IT Director – Technology & AI (FTC)
- Flat IronSyndicatedFractionalFractional IT Director – Technology & AI
- Green Orbit LtdSyndicatedFractionalFractional CTO Wanted | Green Orbit | Initially Equity Only | UK-Based
- fin-houseSyndicatedFractionalFractional CFO
- KeelCFOSyndicatedFractionalFractional CFO
Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.
Three seats
What does a fractional seat look like in practice?
Three fractional seats our founder has held. Real companies, named with their permission; we state only what the seat covered.
Fractional seats our founder has held
ClimatiseFractional · go-to-marketA carbon-reporting software company that needed go-to-market leadership before a full-time hire.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market lead
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
One Up ProductionsFractional · go-to-marketA production company that needed both the go-to-market strategy and its execution.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market: strategy and execution
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
CK DeltaFractional · technologyTechnology work: tech stack implementation.
- Seat
- Fractional technology lead
These are seats our founder has held, not placements.
The scope
When a search consultancy is the right buy — and when it is not
A retained search consultancy fits. A permanent, board-level appointment where the research, the confidential approach to people who are not looking and the depth of assessment are what you are paying for — a chief executive, a chair, a seat that defines the company.
A recruitment agency shortlist fits. A senior seat you need filled on fractional days, for an interim mandate or as a permanent hire where a shortlist against a clear brief is enough. You brief us; we come back with 3–5 candidates, each with rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out.
Neither fits. When you are not yet sure what the seat is. Write down the decisions the leader will own in the first ninety days; the shape follows from that list.
A retainer buys a process for one appointment. A shortlist buys options across engagement shapes. Decide which you need before you compare providers.
The process
How does a brief become a shortlist?
Six steps, one accountable person at each. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date; the weeks below are what a well-scoped brief usually takes.
- Day 001The 15-minute callThe seat, the engagement shape, the days or hours, the start date and the budget. No account needed; a call or a written brief.You and us
- Week 102Scope agreed in writingThe outcome the seat exists for, which days, and how the engagement will run for IR35. A brief that describes a person rather than a job, we rewrite with you.Us
- Weeks 1–203Search and approachWe approach people who aren’t looking and verify prior tenure in the seat at your scale and stage.Us
- Weeks 2–304References, taken by usFrom recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.Us
- Week 305Shortlist of three to fiveEach with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out. You interview and decide.You
- Week 406Kick-offScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.You, them and us
Against the alternatives
Search consultancy or recruitment agency how they differ
Both fill senior seats. They are bought differently and suit different briefs.
| Retained search consultancy | Recruitment agency (us) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | An exclusive search for one appointment | A shortlist of 3–5 against your brief |
| Engagements | Mostly permanent; some firms also offer interim | Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent |
| How it is paid | Retainer, typically in staged instalments | Agreed in writing per engagement |
| Best when | A confidential, board-level permanent appointment | You want options across engagement shapes, quickly briefed |
| Who the leader contracts with | You, as your employee | You, directly — employment or a contract for services |
The decision
Which to brief three situations
The appointment decides the provider, not the other way round.
- Board level, permanentA chief executive for the next five yearsA retained search consultancy: the research, the approach and the assessment are what the retainer buys.
- A phase, not a careerSenior capability for a periodA fractional or interim leader, briefed through a recruitment agency. A retained search is the wrong tool for a mandate with an end date.
- Shape unclearThe seat could be fractional or permanentBrief an agency that recruits every shape, and let the brief decide.
Vetting
How do we vet an executive?
Five stages before anyone reaches a shortlist of three to five.
- Pedigree screenTenureWe verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
- Mandate fitFitFit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
- Reference deep-diveVerifyWe take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
- ShortlistShortlistThree to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
- Kick-offStartScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.
The full process is on how we vet.
how search runs
How a retained search consultancy works the stages
The brief. The consultancy agrees the role, the person and the measures of success with the board or the hiring executive.
Research and approach. A market map of people who could do the job, most of whom are not looking, and a confidential approach to them.
Assessment. Interviews, references and often psychometric or panel assessment, narrowing a long list to a shortlist.
Appointment. Support through the offer and, at many firms, the first months in the role. Terms for a failed appointment vary by firm — get them in the fee letter.
Standing. The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants is the international professional association for executive search and leadership consulting firms. Ask any search consultancy which professional standards it works to.
how we work
If the answer is a leader, not an executive search consultancy brief to shortlist
Brief. A scoping call on the problem, the shape (fractional days, an interim mandate or a permanent seat), the start date and what success looks like in the first ninety days.
Shortlist. We search for your brief and come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting.
Contract. You choose; the leader contracts with you directly, usually through their own company for fractional and interim work. Agree how the engagement will run in practice, because that decides its IR35 status — HMRC’s guidance for clients sets out who makes the determination.
Standing. Check professional standing before you sign: the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants — the international professional association for executive search and leadership consulting firms; the Recruitment and Employment Confederation — the trade body for the recruitment industry, which sets professional standards for its members; the Institute of Directors — the professional body for directors and boards.
The right route
Agency, recruiter, interim or permanent?
Three taps. Say how much senior work there is, for how long, and whether it is one leader or a run of hires; the tool names the route.
The route · Fractional recruiter
An embedded fractional recruiter.
A hiring plan to work through below the leadership team is a talent-acquisition job: a recruiter inside your business for part of the week, paid for their time. We don’t supply them; the page below explains the role.
The route · Non-executive director
A non-executive director.
Independent oversight and constructive challenge, not executive direction. We recruit NEDs through the same brief process.
The route · Advisor
An advisor, not yet a seat.
Less than a day a week of senior input is advisory. Buy it as a scoped engagement; when it grows into a day or more, brief us for a fractional executive.
The route · Interim
An interim executive.
Four or five days for a fixed period is interim: cover for a departure, a turnaround or a transaction. The IIM puts the UK average at £907 a day and ten months.
The route · Permanent
A permanent search.
Four or five days of work, ongoing, is a full-time seat. We recruit permanent executives through the same brief process.
The route · Fractional executive
Brief a fractional recruitment agency.
Senior judgement for part of the week: a fractional CFO, CTO, CMO or COO on one to three days. We come back with a shortlist of three to five, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
We recruit executives. We don’t supply embedded fractional recruiters; where that is the right route, the tool says so.
Clients
What do companies say about our fractional work?
From a company where our founder has held a fractional seat. Name and logo given with the client’s permission.
“Excellent fractional support for building both our go-to-market strategy and our execution.”
Charlie AndersonDirector, One Up ProductionsWhere we are
Where is Fractional Quest?
Where we are
71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ
Fractional Quest Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17322105. This is our registered office; meetings are by appointment, and most briefs start on a 15-minute call.
Questions
Executive Search Consultancy questions, answered
A firm that finds senior leaders for one appointment at a time, usually on an exclusive, retained basis: it agrees the brief, maps the market, approaches people who are not looking and assesses a shortlist. Many also offer leadership consulting.
The terms overlap. "Executive search" usually means retained, research-led search for senior appointments; "executive recruitment consultancy" is often used more broadly, including recruiters who work from a brief to a shortlist. Ask how the provider is paid and whether the search is exclusive.
When the appointment is permanent, senior and confidential, and the right candidates are not looking. For fractional, interim or part-time seats, or a permanent seat where a shortlist against a clear brief is enough, an agency is usually the better fit.
No. We are a recruitment agency: you bring a brief and we come back with a shortlist of 3–5, for fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent seats. The retained executive search firms page profiles firms that do.
Fractional Quest is a recruitment agency, not a consulting firm: we do not employ consultants or run consulting projects. We find the interim, fractional or permanent leader for your brief, and they contract with you directly.
A consultancy firm prices its own way; we cannot speak for it. For a leader in the seat, it depends on the seat, the days and the length of the mandate. Fractional Quest publishes no fees; each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate or salary, so you compare like with like.
It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the executive is part and parcel of your organisation — not on the label "consultant" or "consultancy". For medium and large private-sector clients the client makes the status determination. Every candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.
Sources
Where does every figure on this page come from?
The primary publisher for each number, linked. Where a figure is our own arithmetic, the page says so where it appears.
- HMRC
- legislation.gov.uk
- 1Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRCStatus depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
- 2Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRCEmployer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
- 3
- 4Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.ukThe law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.
