Home › Blog
Insights for boards and senior leaders
The Executive Blog
Practical articles on hiring and leading at the top of a business: C-suite and board appointments, executive pay, fractional and interim leadership, and Senior Manager roles in FCA-regulated firms.
All articlesFCA and SMF rolesBoards and NEDsCEOs and MDsCFOs and finance leadersTechnology leadersFractional and interimHiring and successionPE and family offices
Guidance for boards and the people they appoint
Founders, chairs, investors and executives ask us the same questions again and again. When does a growing business need its first CFO or a full-time CEO? What should a COO earn? Is a fractional executive enough, or is it time for a permanent appointment? We publish our answers here, in plain English and grounded in the searches we run every week.
Articles are written by founder Adrian Lawrence FCA, a Fellow of the ICAEW, and our search team. They cover leadership hiring and succession, executive compensation and equity, board and non-executive appointments, private equity and family offices, technology leadership and Senior Manager Function appointments in regulated firms, and we update them when the rules or the market change.
For boards and investors, we cover how to scope a senior role, what to pay, how to assess candidates and take references, and when interim or fractional leadership makes more sense than a permanent hire. For executives, we cover interviews, offers and equity, notice and restrictive covenants, and the move from an executive career to a board portfolio. We also follow the regulatory changes that shape senior hiring, from the Senior Managers and Certification Regime to the UK Corporate Governance Code.
New to the topic? Start with one of our core guides, or use the search and topic filters above to find what you need.
Start here
Executive salary guide →What C-suite and director roles pay across the UK. What is a fractional executive? →How part-time C-suite leadership works and what it costs. CEO succession planning →A practical guide for UK boards. SMF roles guide →Every Senior Manager Function, and who needs approval.Latest articles
Showing 13–24 of 438
Hiring an MD for a Family-Owned BusinesAppointing the first non-family Managing Director is usually the most significant decision a family business makes, and it is rarely treated as…Read more →
Managing Director Job Description GuideA Managing Director job description does a different job from every other one a business writes. Nobody at this level is scanning…Read more →
Outsourced vs In-House Company SecretaryMost UK private companies start with outsourced company secretarial support, usually bundled with the accountant or a corporate services provider. It is…Read more →Company Secretary vs Governance ManagerGovernance job titles have proliferated over the past decade. Company Secretary, Governance Manager, Head of Governance, Governance and Compliance Officer, Assistant Company…Read more →
Operations Director vs Head of OperationsTwo titles, frequently used as though they were the same job. In most UK businesses they are not, and the difference is…Read more →
What Does an Operations Director Do?An Operations Director is accountable for how a business delivers what it sells. That covers the people, processes, systems and physical infrastructure…Read more →
COO Recruitment at Fintechs: SMF24 Considerations in Scale-Up EnvironmentsFor a scaling fintech, the point at which it needs a genuine Chief Operating Officer — and the point at which that…Read more →
The Boundary Between SMF24 and Operational SMFs: Hiring the Right COO at a Regulated FirmThe SMF24 Chief Operations function is one of the more misunderstood Senior Management Functions. It sits at the intersection of operations, technology…Read more →
Insurer and Insurance Intermediary Senior Hiring: The Lloyd’s Market and FCA DimensionSenior hiring in insurance sits at a more complex regulatory intersection than almost any other financial services sector. An insurer may be…Read more →
Fintech Senior Hiring Under FCA Authorisation: Scaling Governance Without Slowing GrowthFor a fintech, becoming FCA-authorised changes the senior hiring brief overnight. A business that scaled on speed, product instinct and a flat…Read more →
CRO Recruitment at Challenger Banks and Dual-Regulated FirmsCRO Recruitment at Challenger Banks and Dual-Regulated Firms The Chief Risk Officer role at a challenger bank or dual-regulated financial institution carries…Read more →The Board-Level CRO: Governance Positioning and SMF4 Approval ConsiderationsThe Board-Level CRO: Governance Positioning and SMF4 Approval Considerations The Chief Risk Officer at an FCA-regulated firm occupies a governance position that…Read more →Knowledge Centre
Go deeper with our guides
Structured guides that bring the best material together by topic. See the full Exec Capital Knowledge Centre and our Insights.
About the Exec Capital blog
Exec Capital is a specialist executive search firm and one of the five specialist firms of FD Capital Group. We appoint CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CTOs, Managing Directors, commercial and HR leaders, non-executive directors and Senior Manager Function holders on a permanent, interim and fractional basis across the UK, from our offices in London and the West Midlands.
Hiring for your leadership team? See our executive search services and the C-suite roles we recruit. Looking for a role? Register as a candidate or browse live executive jobs.
Accredited Member of GBC
Carbon Offset via TreeNation