Audience
- Founders
- CEOs
- MDs
- CMOs
- Marketing Directors
- Agency leaders
Retained Search
When the hire matters enough to search the market properly.
For senior, confidential, difficult or commercially important appointments where candidate quality and judgement matter more than CV volume.
What it solves
- The strongest senior candidates often aren't applying
- The role is too important for a hopeful advert and a pile of CVs
- The search needs discretion, commitment or confidentiality
- You need somebody to challenge the brief, not just accept it
When this makes sense
- The hire is senior, confidential, difficult or commercially important
- The candidate market is narrow or hard to reach
- You need retained market mapping and direct approaches
- Getting the wrong person would cost considerably more than getting the search right
Where this service fits
Retained Search is for appointments where the right person matters more than getting some CVs quickly.
Typical retained briefs include CMOs, Marketing Directors, Managing Directors, Managing Partners, Heads of Marketing, communications leaders and senior agency leadership.
Interrogate the brief
Why are you hiring? What needs to change? What evidence actually matters?
Map the market
Relevant businesses, adjacent sectors and senior people who have done something genuinely comparable.
Approach passive candidates
Strong people need proper context and a reason to listen, not a lazy message.
Get behind the CV
What did they actually deliver, how did they lead and what was genuinely theirs?
Shortlist with evidence
A considered shortlist with strengths, questions, motivation, salary and concerns.
Keep the whole search moving
Candidate management, feedback, offers and straight conversations from start to finish.
What David brings
Market knowledge, direct founder involvement and honest judgement.
Retained Search gives the brief a proper mandate.
That means deeper briefing, market mapping, target-company research, direct approaches and proper candidate conversations.
This isn't about making recruitment sound posher. It's about giving an important hire the search it deserves.
Public recommendations
What people say about working with David.
Short excerpts from public LinkedIn recommendations, used here because they speak to the work behind the brief.
Read LinkedIn recommendationsAgency networkAbby WhiteFounder & CEO at hAWk comms · August 2026 “David is incredibly well connected across the agency world.”
Public LinkedIn recommendation
Honest adviceMark VarleyCommercial & agency leader · June 2026 “He has a refreshingly honest approach and believes in doing things the right way.”
Public LinkedIn recommendation
Digital marketing understandingHanna DymondPaid media lead · April 2026 “Professionalism, transparency and deep understanding of both the role and the wider digital marketing landscape.”
Public LinkedIn recommendation
Delivered against the briefBradley ToothFounder at You Know Who · June 2023 “Honest, reliable and personable.”
Public LinkedIn recommendation
Common mistakes
What usually gets in the way.
Treating a leadership search like an advert-response exercise
Hiring the best interviewer rather than the best person for the job
Writing the brief around the last person who held the role
Taking three weeks between interviews and wondering where the candidate went
Related proof
Proof only works when it is specific.
Hiring a Managing Partner for Havas Media Manchester
Role: Managing Partner
A retained search for a senior agency leader that resulted in James Reddington joining Havas Media Manchester as Managing Partner — and later progressing into the leadership of the Manchester agency.
Read case studyRelated services
Other routes that may fit the brief.
Permanent Recruitment
Permanent RecruitmentFractional
FractionalMarket Intelligence & Advisory
Market Intelligence & AdvisoryRelated insight
Useful reading before you hire.
Retained Search vs Contingent Recruitment: Which Should You Use?
Retained Search vs Contingent Recruitment: Which Should You Use?When Should an Agency Use Retained Search?
When Should an Agency Use Retained Search?Why Senior Marketing Hiring Goes Wrong
Why Senior Marketing Hiring Goes WrongFAQs
Clear answers before a conversation.
How is retained search different from contingency recruitment?
Retained search gives the brief a committed search process: deeper briefing, market mapping, direct approaches and a more controlled assessment route. Contingency can work for simpler roles, but senior or sensitive hires usually need more focus.
Can you help shape the brief before the search starts?
Yes. The brief, salary, process and market reality should be challenged before the search starts, not after six weeks of disappointment.
Which senior roles does Essential recruit?
Typical retained briefs include CMOs, Marketing Directors, Managing Directors, Managing Partners, Heads of Marketing, communications leaders and senior agency leadership.
Do you run retained searches outside Manchester?
Yes. Essential is Manchester-led with strong North West roots, but retained searches can run UK-wide where the brief needs it.
Next step
Got a senior hire that needs a proper search?
Tell David what you're trying to hire and he'll tell you whether retained search is the right route.