About us

About Exec Capital

Exec Capital is a specialist executive search practice founded by Adrian Lawrence FCA in 2018. We place CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CTOs, CMOs, Chairmen, and the full range of C-suite and director-level executives with UK businesses across every sector — on a permanent, interim, and fractional basis. Every search mandate is conducted on a retained basis and overseen personally by Adrian Lawrence, with a team of five experienced executive recruiters delivering the research, candidate identification, and assessment process that produces shortlists clients can act on with confidence.

About the Founder — Adrian Lawrence FCA

Our Executive Search Team

Exec Capital’s five-strong team of executive recruiters brings experience across technology, financial services, professional services, private equity, and the broader C-suite and director-level executive market. Each recruiter specialises in specific functions and sectors, enabling Exec Capital to conduct focused, research-based searches that produce shortlists of genuine quality rather than high volumes of loosely matched candidates.

Every search mandate is overseen by Adrian Lawrence, who reviews the brief, approves the candidate assessment approach, and signs off the shortlist before it is presented to clients. This governance model combines the breadth of a team-based search capability with the quality standards of a founder-managed practice. Clients deal with their lead recruiter throughout the search process, with Adrian available for briefing conversations, candidate assessment review, and any point in the process where his specific expertise adds value.  Find out more about our team.

Why Exec Capital Was Founded

Exec Capital was built on a specific observation: the executive search market served large businesses well but left mid-market and growth-stage UK businesses — those between £5m and £100m revenue — underserved. The largest search firms assigned junior teams to mandates outside their priority tier. Contingency recruiters sent CVs rather than conducting genuine retained searches. And generalist firms lacked the sector depth to assess C-suite candidates credibly against the specific requirements of each mandate.

Exec Capital was founded to close this gap — delivering retained executive search quality for the businesses that most need strong CEO, CFO, COO, and C-suite appointments: PE-backed companies, growth-stage businesses, and founder-led companies making their first professional executive appointments.

Our Approach to Executive Search

Every Exec Capital mandate is conducted on a retained basis. Retained executive search — where the firm is engaged to conduct a specific, research-based search — produces materially better appointments than contingency recruitment, where firms present available candidates and charge only on placement. The retained model aligns the search firm’s accountability with the client’s outcome.

The Exec Capital process begins with a structured briefing conversation — typically same-day or next working day — that establishes the business context, the mandate scope, the candidate requirements, and what a successful appointment looks like at twelve and twenty-four months. From that brief, the team conducts research-based candidate identification — approaching specific executives whose track records match the mandate requirements, assessing them against the brief, and presenting a shortlist typically within three to seven working days.

This is not a posting-and-screening exercise. Candidate assessment covers verified track record in comparable businesses, commercial outcomes delivered, leadership capability, cultural fit, and the specific requirements of the mandate — not generic executive competency frameworks.

The Exec Capital Group

Exec Capital operates alongside three specialist sister practices, each led by Adrian Lawrence and focused on a specific area of executive leadership:

FD Capital — The UK’s leading specialist in fractional and interim Finance Director and CFO placements. FD Capital has placed senior finance leaders with hundreds of UK businesses on a fractional, interim, and permanent basis since 2018.

NED Capital — Specialist Non-Executive Director and Chairman recruitment for UK boards across all sectors and ownership types.

Acc Capital — Specialist accounting and finance recruitment, placing qualified accountants, financial controllers, and senior finance professionals across the UK.

Published Research

Published Research

Adrian Lawrence has published academic research on fractional financial leadership and its role in UK business growth, available on ResearchGate:

• The Evolution of Fractional CFO Leadership in Modern UK Businesses — March 2026
• The Strategice Role of Interim Executives — co-authored with academic collaborators
• Independent Oversight and Strategic Value: An Empirical and Conceptual Analysis of Non-Executive Directors Jan 2026

These publications reflect Adrian’s commitment to advancing understanding of senior finance leadership models in the UK market.

Accreditations and Standards

Exec Capital is accredited by the Good Business Charter — a recognised standard for responsible business practice covering fair pay, employee wellbeing, environmental responsibility, and ethical conduct. Exec Capital adheres to the UK government’s executive search code of conduct, which promotes transparency, fairness, diversity, and professionalism in senior executive appointments. Exec Capital is also a supporter of Tree Nation‘s reforestation programme.

What Our Clients Say