Adrian Lawrence — Founder & Executive Partner
Adrian Lawrence FCA is the Founder and Executive Partner of EXEC Capital, a boutique executive search firm specialising in senior leadership and C-suite recruitment. With more than two decades of experience spanning professional finance, executive recruitment, and advisory services, Adrian brings a rare blend of commercial understanding, governance expertise, and people insight to every assignment.
Throughout his career, Adrian has worked closely with founders, boards, private equity investors, and senior executives to help build leadership teams capable of driving growth, navigating complexity, and delivering long-term value. His approach is grounded in the belief that exceptional leadership is the single most important factor in organisational success.
At EXEC Capital, Adrian leads the firm’s strategic direction while remaining deeply involved in client engagements and senior-level searches. His hands-on style ensures that every mandate benefits from rigorous thinking, strong market intelligence, and a highly personalised search process.
Early Career and Professional Foundations
Adrian began his career in finance, training and qualifying as a chartered accountant. This foundation gave him a deep appreciation for financial discipline, corporate governance, and the operational realities that senior leaders face. Working within both practice and industry environments, he gained exposure to a wide range of business models, from entrepreneurial ventures and SMEs through to larger, more complex organisations.
During this period, Adrian developed a strong interest in the strategic role that senior leaders play in shaping business outcomes. He observed first-hand how the quality of leadership directly influences performance, culture, and long-term resilience. This insight ultimately led him to transition into recruitment and advisory work, where he could combine his commercial background with his interest in talent, leadership, and organisational design.
Transition into Executive Search
Moving into recruitment, Adrian quickly specialised in senior finance and executive appointments. His ability to speak the language of both clients and candidates — grounded in real commercial experience — set him apart early in his recruitment career.
Rather than focusing solely on transactional placements, Adrian adopted a consultative approach, spending time understanding each organisation’s strategy, challenges, and future ambitions. This allowed him to advise clients not only on who to hire, but also on how roles should be shaped to deliver maximum impact.
Over time, his work expanded beyond finance leadership into broader C-suite and board-level recruitment, including CEOs, COOs, and functional directors. This natural evolution reflected Adrian’s belief that leadership teams must be built holistically, with careful consideration of balance, capability mix, and cultural alignment.
Founding EXEC Capital
EXEC Capital was founded to provide organisations with a high-quality, specialist executive search service that prioritises depth, rigour, and long-term relationships over volume.
Adrian created the firm with a clear vision: to deliver bespoke executive search solutions that feel more like trusted advisory partnerships than traditional recruitment engagements. Every search is approached as unique, with no reliance on generic databases or off-the-shelf processes.
Under Adrian’s leadership, EXEC Capital has developed a reputation for discretion, professionalism, and consistent delivery across senior appointments. The firm works with privately owned businesses, private equity-backed organisations, scale-ups, and established companies seeking to strengthen their leadership teams.
Search Philosophy and Methodology
Adrian believes that successful executive search begins with clarity. Before any market activity takes place, significant time is invested in understanding:
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The organisation’s strategy and commercial objectives
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The challenges facing the leadership team
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The outcomes expected from the role in the first 12–36 months
This discovery phase informs the design of each search strategy, including target sectors, candidate profiles, and assessment criteria.
Searches are research-led and market-mapped, ensuring access to both active and passive candidates. Adrian places particular emphasis on engaging high-performing executives who are not actively seeking new roles but may be open to the right opportunity.
Assessment extends beyond CVs and technical capability. Leadership style, decision-making approach, stakeholder management, and cultural compatibility are all explored in depth. The goal is not simply to fill a vacancy, but to identify leaders who will thrive within the organisation and make a meaningful contribution.
Working with Clients
Clients value Adrian’s calm, pragmatic style and his ability to provide honest, commercially grounded advice. He is known for challenging assumptions when necessary and helping organisations refine their thinking around senior hires.
Rather than positioning EXEC Capital as a supplier, Adrian prefers to work as an extension of the client’s leadership team. This partnership approach creates better outcomes and builds long-term trust.
Many client relationships span multiple years and multiple appointments, reflecting confidence in both the quality of delivery and the integrity of the process.
Working with Candidates
Adrian places equal importance on candidate experience. He recognises that senior executives often approach career decisions with caution and require high-quality information, confidentiality, and thoughtful guidance.
Candidates working with Adrian can expect transparent communication, constructive feedback, and a clear understanding of both the opportunity and the organisation behind it. Even when a particular role is not the right fit, Adrian aims to build long-term professional relationships based on mutual respect.
This approach has helped EXEC Capital develop a strong network of senior leaders across sectors, many of whom return as clients later in their careers.
Governance, Ethics, and Professional Standards
As a chartered accountant, Adrian brings a strong sense of professional ethics and governance to his work. He believes that executive search carries significant responsibility, given the impact that senior appointments have on organisations, employees, and stakeholders.
Discretion, integrity, and accuracy are fundamental to how he operates. Search processes are conducted confidentially, data is handled responsibly, and representations to both clients and candidates are always honest and evidence-based.
Thought Leadership and Market Insight
Adrian maintains a keen interest in how leadership roles are evolving. He regularly shares perspectives on topics such as:
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The changing expectations of CEOs and CFOs
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Board composition and effectiveness
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Leadership in high-growth and transformation environments
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Succession planning and talent pipelines
These insights help inform both client advice and internal search strategy, ensuring EXEC Capital remains aligned with market realities.
Outside of Work
Outside of executive search, Adrian maintains an active interest in business, entrepreneurship, and professional development. He values continuous learning and stays engaged with developments across finance, governance, and leadership practice.
Building Leadership Teams That Create Impact
At the core of Adrian’s work is a simple belief: the right leadership changes everything. Strong leaders create clarity, inspire teams, and make better decisions. Poor leadership, by contrast, is costly and destabilising.
Through EXEC Capital, Adrian Lawrence helps organisations make senior appointments with confidence, providing the insight, rigour, and judgement required to get leadership hiring right.
