MID-YEAR REVIEW OF ACTIVITY:
Following a slow start, 2025 is now turning out to be a very positive year for the Directorbank team.

As reported in our January commentary, we noticed a softening of the market in the last quarter of 2024, possibly reflecting a cautious reaction both to the UK Budget and the outcome of the USA election. This continued until Easter 2025, since when there has been a marked strengthening in demand in the Mid-Market. Based on our current pipeline of retained projects we expect this to continue well into October/November; we do not know if this will sustain depending on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement together with the potential impact of wider international economic uncertainties. Nevertheless, while UK assets continue to be seen as undervalued, there is room for cautious optimism, particularly if interest rates and inflation reduce further.

In terms of Executive Search activity, we are experiencing normal demand for CEOs/MDs, CFOs and Chairs and much stronger demand for COOs and Sales & Marketing Directors. We are also seeing a steep rise in non-recruitment services. We have devoted considerable time to improving the quality of our database over the last two years and it is very heartening to see our clients now exploiting this together with our wider market intelligence.

At the sector level we are seeing good performance in the mainstream Industrial sector while Technology and Business Services are both holding up well. Our German Practice continues to perform excellently and continues to contribute a third of our overall business.

As a leading search partner of mid-market Private Equity investors for portfolio Board positions in the UK and DACH, we entered 2025 with a clear priority: to support ambitious businesses at every stage of their journey through the identification of the best human capital talent available. As always, we remain focused on assignment delivery for our clients and look forward to hosting our usual programme of events for our PE investor clients and Board-level candidates throughout the remainder of 2025.

Click on the following link to view a summary of our 2024 activity and highlights:

REVIEW OF 2024: From delivering excellent search outcomes for our private equity, listed and private clients through to a successful events programme and London office move, 2024 was a positive year for the Directorbank team.

The first quarter of 2024 saw a softening market, but from the beginning of April we noticed a strong rebound which lasted through until November, at which point there appears to have been a very cautious reaction both to the UK Budget and the outcome of the USA election. While we have been party to a high level of pre-deal activity, investors do seem to be deferring decisions until the overall economic environment is clearer. Nevertheless, there are signs of longer term optimism and 2025 could well see a strong rise in deal volumes while UK assets continue to be seen as undervalued, particularly if interest rates and inflation start to come down.

In terms of Executive Search activity, we experienced strong demand for CEOs/MDs and Chairs. At the sector level we saw good performance in the mainstream Industrial sector while Technology and Business Services both held up well. Our German Practice continued to perform excellently and again constituted a third of our overall business.

As always, we remain focused on assignment delivery for our clients and look forward to hosting our usual programme of events for our PE clients and Board-level candidates throughout 2025.

Click here for a summary of our 2024 activity and highlights

Tech Sector Update – Dec 2024: 

As 2024 draws to a close, our Head of Tech Practice, James Searby, shares a snapshot of recent activity across the Tech sector …

Whilst Private Equity funding has become more selective and deal activity has dropped, investors are increasingly focused on ‘profitable’ growth across their portfolio. PE firms are looking more forensically at their investments to identify where and how they can scale, whether through innovation, infrastructure, operational efficiency, strategic acquisition or geographic expansion.

This shift in focus is clearly mirrored in our placement activity. This year, most of our search work has been for executive roles, mainly CEO and Operations Directors (c. 40%), CFOs (c. 20%) and Sales and Commercial roles (c. 15%) as investors seek those energetic, high-skilled leaders to drive through ambitious plans. Sub-sectors demonstrating resilience and growth activity have been cybersecurity, AI, data analytics, software development and fintech.

Please click on the following link to view recent examples of work in the sector – JS_Tech update 2024

If you would like more information on our credentials, or a confidential discussion regarding a search need within your business, do get in touch with James.

James Searby
Director and Head of Tech
j.searby@directorbank.com
07809 507300

Market recognition: Directorbank has been identified by The Financial Times as one of the UK’s leading recruiters. From a pool of 7,000 firms, we received a silver award in both the Executive Search and Tech & IT categories based on the number and strength of recommendations from our clients and candidates.

How to maximise success in a PE buy-and-build strategy:
Having the right leadership in place with strong emotional engagement will drive value through increased innovation, motivation and strategic alignment.

In the fast-paced world of Private Equity, the buy-and-build strategy has emerged as a powerful route to value creation and growth. However, this is a complex process and one that is not guaranteed to give the returns envisaged.

Strong leadership is critical – getting the right leaders in the right roles is key to a successful buy-and-build strategy and crucial for accelerating performance. Yet too often the focus is on synergies, process, technology, valuation, and so on, and the capability of the leadership team is lost in a sea of data.

Securing the right leadership drives value and long-term success; leaders need to demonstrate strategic focus, strong stakeholder skills and emotional intelligence to harness employee engagement. Without this, companies can suffer culture clashes, demotivated employees and in-fighting, which will likely result in loss of talent and erosion of value.

In this article, Sandra Aldridge, business psychologist and founder of Highwire Consulting covers:

• What does the right leader look like in a Buy-and-Build scenario?
• Key steps in performing leadership due diligence when acquiring a company
• How leaders can leverage the power of emotions during the acquisition process
• Points for the Board when leading a Buy-and-Build strategy for portfolio companies

To read the full article, click here