One founder, one mandate, start to finish.
A retained engagement buys you a dedicated process rather than a place in a queue. Lucas or Vinnie runs it personally. There is no handover to a researcher and no account manager between you and the work.
Briefing
A working session, not a form. We interrogate the brief, test the positioning against the market and agree what success looks like.
Market map
Every credible person in the target market, named and mapped, delivered in week one. You keep it whether or not you hire from it.
Approach
Confidential, direct, founder to candidate. Senior people take that call. They do not answer an advertisement.
Shortlist
Four candidates, interviewed in depth, with a written assessment against the brief and an honest read on motivation.
Offer
We manage the offer, the counter offer conversation and the notice period, because that is where good processes are lost.
Onboarding
Structured check ins through the first six months, with both sides, while the appointment beds in.
What a retained engagement actually buys.
The fee structure is staged across the search. What it secures is priority, depth and a documented process you can put in front of a board.
A dedicated founder
Lucas or Vinnie owns the mandate personally and is in every candidate conversation. No researcher doing the approaches on our behalf.
A full market map in week one
Named, mapped, with current employer, tenure and reachability. It is yours to keep, and most clients use it for years.
Named shortlist of four
Each with a written assessment against the brief, references scoped and a clear read on what would move them and what would not.
Weekly written progress
A written update every week, including the approaches that failed and why. You should never have to ask how it is going.
Off limits protection
We do not approach your people during the engagement or after it. Put plainly and honoured.
Confidential handling
Replacing an incumbent, or testing the market before you commit, is a routine brief. It stays between us.
Retained is the right call less often than agencies pretend.
It costs more up front and it is worth it on a specific class of role. We will tell you when a contingent process would get you the same outcome for less.
A good fit when
The appointment sets direction. Managing director, general manager, functional head, a board seat. Getting it wrong costs years, not months.
The pool is small and passive. If the right twenty people are all employed and none are looking, an advertisement reaches none of them.
The search is confidential. Replacing someone still in the seat, or exploring a market entry you are not ready to announce.
You need the market evidence. A board or investor wants to see the market was properly covered, not that one agency sent three CVs.
Probably not the right model when
You need volume. Several similar roles at once is a project recruitment brief, not six retained searches.
The role is well supplied. If there are two hundred credible candidates and many are active, contingent will reach them faster and cost less.
The requirement is time boxed. A defined window of work is a contract engagement, not a permanent appointment.
You are not ready to decide. Retained search depends on a decision maker being available. If the panel cannot meet for a month, the process will stall and good candidates will go elsewhere.
Executive search, answered.
How is the fee structured?
A retained fee staged across the engagement, typically across briefing, shortlist and placement. The total is agreed up front against the package, with no surprises at the end. We will put the structure in writing before you commit to anything.
How long does a retained search take?
Eight to twelve weeks from briefing to signed offer is normal for a senior appointment, with the market map inside the first week and a shortlist around week five or six. Notice periods then add one to three months before a start date.
What happens if the appointment does not work out?
Senior appointments carry a replacement provision, agreed in writing at the outset. We would rather talk about it honestly at the briefing than discover a mismatch at month four.
Will you approach people at my own company?
No. Off limits protection applies for the duration of the engagement and afterwards. It is a condition of the relationship, not a negotiating point.
Do we have to use you exclusively?
A retained process is exclusive by design. That is what lets us go to the market openly on your behalf, and it is why candidates take the call. Running two firms on one confidential mandate tells the market you are disorganised.
Can you run a search confidentially?
Yes, and we do it often. Candidates are briefed on the opportunity without the client being named until there is mutual interest and a confidentiality position in place.
Not the right shape for your brief?
Four models, and we will tell you honestly which one fits. Most clients end up using more than one of them over a relationship.
Contingent Recruitment
Pay on placement. Curated shortlists for mid to senior specialist roles, usually inside ten business days.
See how it worksProject Recruitment
A whole permanent project workforce, planned against your org chart and mobilised in waves to your program.
See how it worksContract Recruitment
Day rate and hourly rate contractors, and whole contract teams. Online timesheets, payroll funded by LUVI.
See how it works