Insights

Outlier firms make £360k look standard. On the ground, the reality is very different.

The summer surge in executive openings has carried on into September. Here's what we're seeing, plus our latest open roles.

The UK's tech talent pool is second only to Silicon Valley, at a fraction of the cost.

Candidates are juggling multiple interviews again, sometimes multiple offers. That's always a good sign.

Two or three days a week of experienced C-suite talent, without blowing the budget. No wonder Seed and Series A clients are open to it.

A fintech exec had just been offered a promotion and pay rise. He was still thinking about leaving. I told him to stay.

A COO is defined entirely by what the CEO lacks, needs, or wants to delegate.

A high-profile COO told me equity was her main priority. In the UK, I'd treat it as a bonus if everything goes to plan.

One CTO client wiped legacy language requirements clean off their job specs. Here's what they asked for instead.

The moment you advertise £65k to £75k, every engineer on £55k is going to knock on HR's door.

What clients want on paper isn't always who they end up hiring. Meeting candidates in person is how that comes out.

Jan and Feb don't feel like the fresh job start months anymore. The real momentum is building through Q2.

Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh, Manchester, London and Bristol. The clusters are growing and the investment is flowing.

When major players land and hire aggressively, it creates movement all the way down the chain.

It's all online videos, then online assessments, then more videos. Meanwhile, no one is meeting in person anymore.

The numbers make complete sense. But buyers still want someone they can actually speak to about their problems.

The best early-stage companies start with the founder in the room. But that only works until it doesn't scale.

Only around 2 in 10 candidates will accept a full 5-day role. Here's why 4 days might be the sweet spot.

People teams went from huge armies to a single Head of People, often covering Talent, People Ops and Chief of Staff too.

Evidence matters more than energy, and character over charisma. Here's what to look for in your next sales hire.

It starts with something far less glamorous than most expect: your network.

OpenAI and Anthropic are stretching the top end of the pay scale. Everyone else is trying to replicate their playbook.

£100k to £250k sounds extreme. But a small number of AI-led companies are pulling the top end sharply upwards.

Fewer late-stage companies, more experienced talent and a lot of "1 in, 1 out". Here's what that's doing to leadership pay.

It's no longer enough to build AI. You have to sustain it. Here's who to hire, and in what order.