UK’s leading executive search agency | Immediate starts available | Full-time, part-time, and interim executive recruitment.
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Discover more about our MD and CEO recruitment by calling our team at 0203 834 9616
Work with London’s Leading MD and CEO Recruiter
London’s Leading MD and CEO Recruiter
Exec Capital is London’s leading boutique executive recruitment agency based in the heart of the city’s financial district. We operate throughout the UK and abroad with a serviced office in Dubai.
We connect start-ups and businesses with MDs and CEOs with experience navigating the challenges facing start-ups, scaling businesses, and public companies. It’s our goal to streamline the recruitment process with a hands-on and 360-degree approach to recruitment. We tailor each step of the process to meet the current and future needs of your business.
The Exec Capital team are at the forefront of the executive industry’s evolution, considering the changing expectations on both the side of the candidate and companies, turbo-charged by the flexible working revolution.
Our MD and CEO executive search will identify the exact candidate profile your company needs, streamlining the hiring process.
About the Founder
Adrian Lawrence FCA — Exec Capital
Adrian Lawrence is the founder of Exec Capital and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW verified). He has placed fractional, interim and permanent Chief Executives with businesses ranging from early post-revenue scale-ups to PE-backed portfolio companies preparing for exit. The CEO appointment is the most consequential hiring decision a board makes, and Adrian’s approach to CEO recruitment prioritises a structured brief, direct access to the right network, and rigorous candidate assessment before introduction. His research on executive recruitment has been published on ResearchGate. Exec Capital is a member of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation.
Speak to Adrian: 020 3834 9616 · recruitment@execcapital.co.uk
Hire a Part-Time MD or CEO
Exec Capital is one of the UK’s leading C-suite and executive recruitment agencies, hiring for a full portfolio of roles across multiple industries. We provide CEO and MD executive search and headhunting services that can be adapted to suit the needs of your company, whatever stage you’re at in the development cycle.
It’s our goal to make industry-leading talent more accessible to start-ups and scaling businesses in need of the most help. Our part-time, interim, and remote executive opportunities connect companies with professionals at a more affordable rate.
Recent Placements
PE-backed technology business — Fractional COO
A private equity-backed SaaS business with £12m ARR required a fractional Chief Operating Officer to build the operational infrastructure ahead of a Series B raise. The brief required someone with prior experience of scaling a SaaS business through the same growth stage and comfort working alongside an institutional investor board. Exec Capital placed a fractional COO with two prior SaaS scale-up appointments, engaged within five weeks of instruction on a three-day-per-week basis.
Founder-led professional services firm — First CEO appointment
A founder-led professional services business with 80 staff sought its first external Chief Executive to allow the founding partners to transition into strategic and client-facing roles. The brief required a CEO with sector-relevant experience, the credibility to lead an existing senior team, and the commercial instinct to grow revenue without disrupting a high-retention client base. Exec Capital conducted a direct search and placed a permanent CEO from within the sector within ten weeks.
Listed financial services business — Interim CFO
An AIM-listed financial services business required an interim CFO at short notice following an unplanned departure, with a board reporting cycle and an investor update due within six weeks. The candidate needed to satisfy FCA fit and proper requirements and have prior experience in a regulated entity. Exec Capital placed an interim CFO with AIM and FCA-regulated background within eight days of instruction, who subsequently supported the permanent CFO search process.
International business expanding into the UK — Country CEO
A European technology business entering the UK market required a UK Country CEO to establish the business, build the initial team and lead early commercial relationships. The candidate needed direct experience of building a UK business from a standing start within a comparable sector, and the board credibility to represent the business at senior client level. Exec Capital conducted a retained search and presented a shortlist of three candidates within three weeks, with the appointment made within seven weeks of instruction.
Book a no-obligation consultation today
Our Talent Pool of MDs and CEO
At Exec Capital, we have an extensive network of candidates with many of them available for immediate starts.
Our talent pool of available to work on a part-time, full-time, and interim basis as managing directors and CEOs. We tailor each step of the recruitment process to identify the candidate who will seamlessly fit into your company’s culture and unlock its potential to take it to the next level
Our headhunting services provide access to the widest talent pool, including approaching passive candidates who may not be actively seeking new MD and CEO opportunities.We are well known as managing director headhunters.
Affordable Executive Recruitment
Part-time and interim CEO and MD roles are an affordable way to build your company’s leadership team. These more flexible executives can fill your company’s skills gap, or a part-time role provides the opportunity to trial-run a candidate before transitioning them to a permanent, full-time position. These executives can be hired on an interim or project-by-project basis.
We’re seeing a sharp rise in the number of executives working on a part-time basis, on contracts that range from 8 hours to 4 days a week. Part-time recruitment means appointing an MD or CEO is more affordable and accessible than ever before. A part-time hire also removes additional recruitment expenses, including relocation, training, and equipment costs.
Book a no-obligation consultation today
Expand Your Business with a CEO or MD
At Exec Capital, our team are your personalised executive recruiters with access to industry-leading talent and unique industry insights. We work with clients throughout the UK and abroad to recruit for in-house, hybrid, and remote CEO and MD opportunities.
We’ll oversee every step of the hiring process, from conducting market research to engaging with potential candidates and managing the interview process. Your company and leadership team remain actively involved throughout each step of the process without the administrative workload involved, allowing you to focus on your day-to-day operations.
Outsourcing your executive recruitment
Outsourcing your executive recruitment is the most affordable and time-effective option for most companies. Conducting your recruitment internally can be expensive and time-consuming, particularly for SMEs and scaling companies with a smaller workforce and leadership team. The average internal recruitment process takes 30 days, during which time the employees involved in the hiring process become less productive due to the increased workload.
Working with an agency like FD Capital provides a clear framework for hiring a CEO or MD. We start by establishing a job description and candidate profile to determine exactly what your company needs from a CEO or MD. Executive candidates are increasingly coming from a more diverse range of backgrounds, including from non-financial sectors, providing a fresh perspective for companies. Developing a candidate profile allows you to focus on the transferable and soft skills your ideal CEO or MD should have.
Working with an executive search agency enables your company to outsource the heavy administrative workload, freeing up your time to focus on day-to-day responsibilities. Your company will still be actively involved in the hiring process without the stress of screening candidates, chasing references, or conducting interviews. Our recruitment team can shortlist candidates within a limited period for time-sensitive positions.
Remote and Flexible Executive Roles
Exec Capital specialises in part-time, interim, and fractional recruitment for executive and C-suite roles. Part-time executives, including CEOs and MDs, can be recruited on a project-by-project basis or in a long-term role, providing scalability to the role in line with company growth.
More companies are choosing to operate on a remote or hybrid basis, widening the talent pool of candidates they can draw from. Building a winning leadership team has never been easy.
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Why Work with Exec Capital
What sets Exec Capital apart is our team of industry-leading recruiters. Our leadership team has entrepreneurial and executive backgrounds, offering a unique insight into both sides of the recruitment process.
We work with companies throughout every stage of their development, understanding the challenges these organisations face and how an MD or CEO can help them navigate growth pains and operational issues.
Our team develop long-term partnerships with companies, allowing us to become an extension of their in-house team. We’ll contact potential candidates directly, building relationships and providing a hands-on approach to each step of the recruitment process while keeping you in the loop throughout each step.
Maximise Your Exit Strategy
The UK’s Leading Financial Recruiters
Exec Capital is based in Great Portland Street London and is proud to be the UK’s leading boutique financial recruitment agency. We have a UK-wide network of MDs and CEOs with members of our leadership team having over 20 years of experience in the recruitment industry.
Book your free consultation call
Flexible and Hybrid CFOs
The world of work is changing. Recruit a CEO or MD on a contract that works for your business. Exec Capital oversees part-time, remote, and hybrid recruiting. We have the resources to help you build a winning team with an MD or CEO who can grow with your company.
Book your free consultation call
In-House or Remote
Whether your office is still bricks and mortar or you’re fully digital, our MDs and CEOs have the flexibility to work wherever you need them. Many of our financial executives are based in London with others available to work across the UK. We’ll connect you with the best candidate to fit your business needs and operations.
20+ Years’ Experience
Many of our leadership team have over 20 years of experience in the recruitment industry, completing hundreds of successful placements. We have a wide talent pool of potential MD and CEO candidates to pull from when headhunting, as well as conducting traditional recruitment.
Exec Capital is invested in the success of our clients and the companies we work with. As a business partner, we’ll help you expand and scale your company by making executive-level professionals and industry-leading more accessible.
The CEO Partnership
We know how vital the CEO relationship is to deliver a successful strategy. Our recruitment team works alongside CEOs to identify exactly what they want from their ideal candidate. We’ll connect your company with a financial professional who can form a winning partnership with your CEO and spearhead your growth strategy.
- Financial Strategy Insight
A CFO puts systems and technology in place that provide them with data-driven insights into the company’s position in real time. An engaging CFO will translate their financial analysis into more accessible language as a trusted advisor to other C-suite members, the board, and the CEO.
CFOs are often hired with the purpose of restructuring a company’s existing financial systems, adopting a new strategy, or developing fundraising opportunities.
- Provide Strategic Insights
Their forecasting and financial analysis account for everything from supply chain resilience to employee retention. It’s vital that you hire a CFO who will be at home in your company culture.
A CEO needs a CFO who will provide an unbiased perspective on the company’s finances and work with them to develop short and long-term strategies. It’s the CFO’s responsibility to determine whether a strategy is financially viable and to put the company in the best position to navigate market and industry volatility.
- Fundraising Opportunities
You can choose to hire a CFO when you are preparing to scale your company or engage with PE houses and private investors or apply for government grants. Potential investors will expect a CFO to keep them up to date on the company’s financial situation and provide an unbiased point of view.
- Conduct Internal Audits
Your CFO will identify potential problems within your organisation as part of their risk management role. Carrying out an audit enables a CFO to understand the full picture and identify potential areas of cost saving or growth potential.
CEOs
CFOs no longer spend their days glued to spreadsheets. The role is evolving at lightning speed to take on a greater strategic and operational importance. CFOs are now the ‘Chief Future Officer’, preparing the company for its next moves and ensuring it has the resilience to withstand market and industry volatility.
A CEO is a Chief Future Officer who is intimately involved in the future planning of the organisation in partnership with the CEO as their nearest advisor. Similarly, board members and investors view the CFO as their eyes and ears.
Hiring a CEO will develop strong relationships between the company and stakeholders with new systems and real-time forecasting to allow the company to react to industry and market changes.
- No Long-Term Commitment
- Fills Skills Gap
- Cost Effective for SMEs
Taking the Next Steps
We connect start-ups, SMEs, and scaling businesses with industry-leading financial professionals.
Schedule a free, confidential discovery call with us today to learn more about our recruitment and headhunting services. Members of our recruitment team have over 20 years of experience with a network of candidates throughout the UK and beyond.
Begin the recruitment process by contacting our specialist CEO hiring team at recruitment@execcapital.co.uk
Specialist Practice Areas
Where We Recruit Most Often
Four specialist practice areas where Exec Capital runs the most senior search activity — each with role-specific service pages and a paired set of Knowledge Centre guides covering the substantive thinking behind each appointment.
Practice Area
Family Office
Senior appointments at single family offices, multi-family offices and private wealth structures.
Practice Area
Private Equity
Senior appointments at PE firms and portfolio companies across the deal cycle.
Practice Area
Technology & AI
Senior technology, AI and digital leadership appointments across the C-suite and senior director tier.
Practice Area
Turnaround & Restructuring
Senior leadership for turnaround, restructuring and transformation situations where pace and commercial confidence matter.
Every senior mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA.
Browse all recruitment services → · Tell us about your hire →
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.
Knowledge Centre
Senior Manager Function (SMF) Hiring Guides for FCA-Regulated Firms
The Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) places personal accountability on designated Senior Manager Function holders at FCA-regulated firms. Every SMF appointment — CEO, Chair, CRO, Head of Internal Audit, and the committee chair functions — requires FCA individual approval before the role is taken up. The guides below cover each SMF role in depth: the regulatory requirements, the candidate profile, the search process, and the specific fit-and-proper assessment considerations that regulated firm boards and nomination committees must work through.
Executive SMF Roles
- SMF Roles: A Complete Guide
SMCR overview, firm classification, all SMF designations - SMF1 — Chief Executive
Form A approval, Statement of Responsibility, fit-and-proper assessment - SMF3 — Executive Director
Board-level executive director under SMCR; stacking with SMF24 and SMF4 - SMF4 — Chief Risk Officer
Second-line independence, FCA approval, regulator engagement - SMF5 — Head of Internal Audit
Third-line at FCA-regulated firms; ICAEW/ACCA/CIA/CMIIA qualifications - SMF24 — Chief Operations
COO/Chief Operations holder; operational resilience, third-party risk
Non-Executive & Chair SMF Roles
- SMF9 — Chair
Personal accountability, possible FCA interview, candidate pool and tenure - SMF14 — Senior Independent Director
Four core SID responsibilities, when activated, the chair-SID dynamic - SMF10 — Chair of Risk Committee
Chair-CRO dynamic, FCA pre-approval, candidate pool and fit assessment - SMF11 — Chair of Audit Committee
ICAEW chartered accountancy credentials, audit committee chair scope - SMF12 — Chair of Remuneration Committee
FCA Remuneration Code governance, exec comp oversight, candidate profile - SMF13 — Chair of Nominations Committee
Board diversity, succession planning, nominations committee scope
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
“Adrian worked with us as our Fractional CFO for six months and we are genuinely grateful for the contribution he made. His financial expertise and calm, professional approach gave us confidence in our numbers and supported better decision-making across the business. I would recommend Adrian and Exec Capital without hesitation.”
Josh Haugh — MAS Technicae Group (International) Ltd, West Sussex
Start a Conversation
Exec Capital conducts retained executive search for UK businesses across all sectors. Permanent, interim, and fractional C-suite and director-level appointments. Shortlist typically within 3–7 working days.
Our Executive Search Services
C-Suite Recruitment
Director Recruitment
Interim Executives
Fractional Executives
Specialist Search
Sister Practices
or by calling us at 020 3287 2365 for a no-obligation consultation.
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