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Vertex Talent · Est. MMXXVI

VERTEX

T A L E N T

About

A small firm,
deliberately so.

Vertex was founded in 2026 on a single conviction: that senior search has become a volume business, and that the volume is the disease. Six partners, four operating values, and a refusal to dilute the quality of our work.

Established

MMXXVI

Headquarters

Mayfair

Partners

6

Mandates / quarter

≤ 24

[ A ] Our story

Founded on a single conviction.

That a senior placement is a decade of consequences — and that the candidate the spreadsheet picks is rarely the candidate the business needs.

  • 2026 · 01

    Founded — in dissatisfaction.

    Eleanor Whitfield, formerly leading the European Tech practice at Heidrick & Struggles, founds Vertex from a Mayfair townhouse. The thesis is unfashionable: that senior search has become a volume business, and that the volume is the disease.

  • 2026 · 02

    The first retained engagement.

    A confidential CTO mandate for a Series C fintech. Eleven weeks from engagement to start date. The same CEO retains Vertex for three subsequent searches over the following twelve months. The pattern that defines the firm begins.

  • 2026 · 03

    The intelligence engine, in-house.

    Vertex commissions an in-house engineering team to build a proprietary candidate intelligence engine. The decision is to build, not license — the data, and the accountability for it, must live within the firm. James Okafor joins to lead.

  • 2026 · 04

    Three more partners. Three more practices.

    Marcus Allen joins to lead the Finance practice. Dr. Priya Raman opens the Life Sciences practice. Sophia Reyes founds the Legal & Policy practice. Vertex commits, in writing, to no more than four mandates per consultant per quarter.

  • 2026 · 05

    B-Corp. AESC. REC.

    Vertex secures certification across all three of the industry's meaningful standards. The firm publishes its first annual Senior Search Index — now a reference for 8,000+ subscribed boards across the UK and EU.

  • 2026 · 06

    247 placements. 96% retention.

    The firm closes its 247th senior placement. 96% of placements remain in role at twelve months — a figure that is, in executive search, unusual. The thesis the firm was founded on continues to hold.

[ B ] The partners

Six partners. One firm.

Each practice is led by a partner with twelve or more years of senior search experience at one of the established firms. We hire each other.

[ C ] Operating values

Four commitments. Written down.

01

Exclusivity over volume

We accept a limited number of mandates per quarter. Each consultant carries no more than four active searches at any time. The quality of our shortlists is a function of our refusal to dilute it.

02

Confidentiality without exception

Every search is run with the discretion the brief requires. Where appropriate, we conduct entirely confidential mandates — including from the candidate market.

03

Honest counsel

We tell clients when their brief is unrealistic. We tell candidates when a role is not for them. The relationship is the asset; the placement is a consequence.

04

Intelligence as edge

Our proprietary candidate intelligence engine — built in-house — augments our consultants' judgment with structured, real-time market data. The technology serves the relationship, never the reverse.

[ 04 ] By the numbers

Discipline, measured.

01

0

Senior placements

Across executive and senior IC, since 2026

02

0 days

Avg. time to shortlist

From engagement to first qualified introduction

03

0%

Retained engagement rate

Clients retaining Vertex for a subsequent search

04

0%

12-month retention

Of our placements remain in role at twelve months

[ D ] Accreditations

Certified, where certification matters.

REC

Recruitment & Employment Confederation

AESC

Association of Executive Search Consultants

B-Corp

Certified B-Corporation since 2026

ICO

Information Commissioner's Office, Reg. ZB-441-228

Begin a conversation

A discreet
conversation, first.

Whether you are mapping the market for a senior hire, exploring a new role yourself, or simply gathering intelligence — we will respond personally, in confidence, within one working day.

// VT — Direct

Mayfair · London

14 Berkeley Street
London W1J 8DX