At H&P Executive Search, the last 12 months has marked a defining shift in our journey. The business is no longer operating as a start-up, but rather it has transitioned into a mature SME that is now scaling with purpose, technology, and people at its core and seeing the business shift towards more high-value work that is setting a new standard for the legal sector.

Built to scale and out-innovate the competition

While our year-on-year growth has consistently outpaced the wider executive search sector in the years since the pandemic, at H&P we have always worked hard to ensure that our internal foundations remain ahead of the curve. As Harry Elkington, COO, noted: “Our infrastructure reflects that of much larger corporations – because we’re building for where we’re going, not where we’ve been.”

This is reflected in several of the key initiatives we have rolled out. One of the most significant of which is our investment into AI – a move that sees H&P Executive Search stand apart from the rest of the sector.

Owning our IP: Using AI as an enabler, not a replacement 

Technology is central to how we scale, but only on our terms. We have made a clear decision to no longer rely on generic external off-the-shelf tools that are universally used by other executive search firms. Instead, we wanted to own, build, and continually improve our own IP, and our new ‘Golden Thread’ Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is at the heart of this.

Golden Thread is a fully connected operating model that provides end-to-end visibility from business development and placement to aftercare. In other words, our SOP is designed to ensure consistency, accountability, and transparency across every stage of the lifecycle. This is important because at a time of rapid technological change, H&P Executive is essentially ‘owning’ its AI strategy.

Much has been talked about the use of AI in recruitment and executive search, and, for us, AI is about removing administrative friction to accelerate revenue-generating activity. Indeed, while AI will lead more of the process, it cannot and will not ever replace the human connection that defines the way we perform the executive search function.

In fact, this investment is already delivering significant improvements in consultant productivity and, most importantly, results. We are already seeing a major impact, including a substantial increase in CV-to-placement performance, alongside meaningful improvements in time-to-billing and overall team billing participation.

These gains do more than simply improve efficiencies; they create greater value to the clients and candidates we support by enabling our people to foster stronger relationships and focus more on delivering the best outcomes.

Investing in our people, culture, and performance

We have built the platforms and brought in the talent, but the true investment lies in upskilling and providing our people the opportunity to perform better than ever. That is why our theme this year is ‘Investing in You’.

This investment is ever-present – it’s in the platforms we have built, the people we have onboarded into the company, and the time and resources we have committed to upskilling, training, and career development.

As Jack Hayes, CEO, says: “What defines a great place to work for me is when everyone in the business knows that the opportunity is here for them to be the best they can, to work with and learn from the best, and know that they can achieve what they want for themselves and their careers.”

We are proud to have the highest number of people in our history currently billing and contributing to our expansion. To support this growth, we have increased our investment in staff training by almost 30% in the last 12 months with more than 1,300 hours allocated to supporting teams at an individual level such one-to-one development and mentoring. It is no coincidence that this has seen a record 16 promotions and enabled the company to win nine industry awards.

Furthermore, we introduced several key initiatives:

• Incentives & wellness: From new wellness initiatives to our company-wide Lunch Club, which the whole team enjoyed six times this past year, we are rewarding the hard work that drives our success.
• Culture of inclusion: The introduction of our Women’s Network ensures we are fostering a diverse and supportive environment for all our consultants.
• Global Reach: Opening an office in Miami in 2026 remains a pivotal point for us, offering the chance to partner with even more of the biggest global brands within the legal sector and facilitate cross-collaboration across our international locations.

Looking forward – always

Everything we do today is focused on the future – not just for the next twelve months, but the next five and ten years. We are working together, aligned on the same path, and setting new standards for executive search within the legal sector, across each territory we operate in.

Jack concludes: “High ambition has been part of the H&P DNA from day one, and we know that the success we have achieved to date and that which is yet to come has been and will be a direct result of this.

“As our strategy comes together, the next stage in our journey is being built with an assurance that every decision taken today supports the long-term growth ambitions of the business tomorrow.”

Finally, a huge congratulations to our top performers of the year who have secured their spots on the upcoming incentive trip! We look forward to celebrating their success.