Insights — Executive Recruitment — 4 min read
How Much Does Executive Recruitment Cost in the UK?
Most executive recruitment cost is a success fee tied to the appointment, but the fee is only part of what the appointment actually costs the business.
In short
UK executive recruitment is generally charged as a success fee, a retained search fee paid in stages, or occasionally a fixed project fee — the model varies by firm and by role seniority, and none of these is a fixed industry number. Evans Sales Consultancy's permanent executive recruitment is success-fee based, with the fee agreed in writing for each assignment rather than published as a standard percentage. The total cost of an appointment also includes the salary or package, onboarding time and the cost of a wrong appointment, which is usually larger than the recruitment fee itself.
Businesses asking about executive recruitment cost are usually really asking one of two different questions: what does a recruiter charge, or what does the whole appointment end up costing once it lands. Both matter, and they are answered differently.
This article covers the fee models the UK market generally uses, the wider cost of hire, and how Evans Sales Consultancy prices executive assignments.
How executive recruitment is generally charged in the UK
Recruitment firms in the UK use a small number of common fee structures for senior appointments. Which one applies to a given assignment depends on the firm, the seniority of the role and how the search is run — this is a description of the market generally, not a quote for any specific piece of work.
- Success fee — the fee is earned only when an appointment is made, usually calculated against the package and agreed before the search begins.
- Retained search — a fee is paid in stages across the assignment (commonly on instruction, shortlist and placement), more common for very senior or hard-to-fill roles.
- Fixed project fee — a single agreed amount for the assignment, regardless of the eventual package, sometimes used for defined, time-limited searches.
- Interim and fractional day-rate or monthly arrangements — priced against the assignment rather than a placement fee, because there is no permanent salary to calculate against.
How Evans Sales Consultancy prices executive recruitment
Permanent executive recruitment at Evans Sales Consultancy is a success-fee model: the fee is earned when an appointment is made, and it is agreed with the client in writing for each individual assignment, reflecting the seniority and difficulty of the role. We do not publish a standard executive search percentage, and there is no single number that applies across all eleven executive roles and every business size.
Interim and fractional executive assignments are also priced per assignment rather than against a published rate card, because the time commitment, seniority and scope vary considerably between engagements.
What actually drives the fee on a given assignment
- Seniority of the role — board-level appointments generally involve more work to define, assess and reference than a functional director role.
- Scarcity of the profile required — a widely available skill set costs less to search for than a rare combination of sector, seniority and geography.
- Confidentiality requirements — a discreet succession search typically carries a different cost profile than an openly advertised appointment.
- Geography — international or multi-territory searches usually take more coordination than a single-market UK search.
- Urgency — a tight timescale can affect how a fee is structured, though it rarely changes the fundamentals of the mandate work involved.
The fee is not the total cost of the appointment
Businesses that compare recruitment options purely on fee percentage are usually comparing the smallest part of the total cost. The components below matter more to the outcome than the fee itself.
| Component | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Recruitment fee | The amount paid to the recruiting firm for finding and placing the executive |
| Salary and package | Base salary, bonus, benefits and any equity — the largest ongoing cost |
| Onboarding time | Internal time spent inducting, briefing and supporting a new executive before they are fully productive |
| Opportunity cost of the vacancy | What is not being decided or delivered while the role remains unfilled |
| Cost of a wrong appointment | Salary paid during a tenure that does not work, the disruption caused, and the cost of running the search again |
How to make a fair cost comparison between firms
A lower headline fee is not automatically the better deal. In our view, the more useful questions before comparing numbers are about what is actually included in the fee and what happens if the appointment does not work out.
- Is the fee calculated against basic salary, total package, or a fixed amount?
- Is there a replacement guarantee if the appointment leaves within an agreed period, and what does it cover?
- Does the fee cover the definition of the mandate, or only the search once a specification exists?
- Is assessment — beyond a CV and interview — included, or charged separately?
- How is confidentiality handled, and does that affect cost?
Where to go for current salary benchmarking
For actual current market pay levels by role, the Evans UK Executive Salary Guide 2027 is a more appropriate reference than a general recruitment cost article, because pay benchmarks move and need to be checked at the time of a live search rather than treated as fixed.
Considering an executive appointment?
Evans Sales Consultancy recruits eleven executive roles across permanent, interim and fractional engagement models — starting with what the appointment has to deliver.
Related services