Sometimes it starts with curiosity. Sometimes with fatigue. Sometimes with a sense that the firm has outgrown the structure it was built on. Whatever the trigger, the question quietly forms in the background. Are we building a business that someone else would actually want to buy? Most recruitment firm owners sensibly never announce they are thinking about investment or exit. But many of them are.
The route to investment or acquisition looks different for every firm but in practice, the businesses that attract the most interest tend to share some common characteristics, and they’re rarely about timing the market perfectly. More often, they’re about building something investors can believe in.
This is not a checklist for chasing a deal. It’s a look at what the most investable recruitment firms are quietly doing behind the scenes.
1. Your numbers tell a story you’d invest in
Running a small executive search boutique, you get used to ‘lumpy’ months, a big CEO search lands, then radio silence. But there comes a point where the volatility gives way to something investors love: steady, defensible profit and cash. If you can show several years of solid fees, healthy margins and repeat work from the same client base, you are no longer just a great biller with a shingle, you are a business someone else can underwrite.
Look at what’s happening across the market: according to BDO’s Recruitment M&A Snapshot in 2024 there were 17 executive search deals globally, around 16% of total recruitment M&A, and many of those targets were profitable, specialist boutiques rather than volume players.
Buyers and PE backers in these deals repeatedly emphasise stable earnings, recurring clients and strong cash generation as the foundation of value, not just one or two bumper years. If, hand on heart, you would invest your own capital in your firm’s numbers, that is sign number one you might be ready for someone else’s.
2. You’re no longer the product
Most of us started our firms as name‑on‑the‑door operations. Clients called because of who we are, not because of the logo on the invoice. The uncomfortable truth is that this is exactly what depresses valuations. Buyers do not want to acquire a personal reputation they cannot truly own; they want a firm that can deliver without the founder in every briefing call. When partners in recent deals talk about why they were backed, they talk about “teams” and “platforms”, not solo heroics.
Look at Axon Moore, the C‑suite finance search firm acquired by CorpAcq: its founder stayed involved, but the attraction for the investor was a proven team and defined market niche rather than a single rainmaker. At the other end of the spectrum, Heidrick & Struggles’ take‑private by Advent and Corvex is all about its partner bench and its ability to attract and retain top consulting talent globally. If you have a second line that can originate and deliver CEO searches in your niche, and clients are now buying the firm’s methodology and brand as much as ‘you’, that is a powerful sign you are getting investment‑ready.
3. Your niche is valued beyond today’s market cycle
In a softer hiring market, you learn very quickly whether your niche really matters. Over the past two years, demand across executive search has been choppy, particularly in private equity‑backed portfolio companies, yet M&A in executive search has accelerated, with deal volumes in 2024 several times higher than in 2023. That only happens because investors believe certain niches – board, CEO and C‑suite work in mission‑critical sectors – will hold value over a full cycle.
Buyers repeatedly say they pay up for clear positioning and long‑term relevance: for example, investors in Heidrick & Struggles highlighted its trusted status with boards and its broader leadership advisory capability, not just its search revenue. Advisory firms looking at our space also point out that UK operators willing to take strategic risk, new geographies, adjacent leadership services, technology‑enabled assessment, are using M&A to accelerate that journey. If your firm is ‘known for’ placing CEOs into a specific part of the ecosystem and you can point to repeat mandates and boardroom trust, that niche is likely to be attractive to the right buyer.
4. You’re already behaving like a deal‑ready company
The biggest surprise when you get that first acquisition approach is how exposed you feel under diligence. Suddenly, it is not enough to know your numbers, you have to prove them. The executive search owners who report smoother processes tend to have a few common habits: clean monthly management accounts, fee and client data they can slice and dice instantly, documented processes and a clear pipeline. That level of discipline signals to investors that you can scale without losing control.
Recent deals and market reports underline this point. Advisors summarising 2024 recruitment M&A activity note that buyers are moving quickly on firms that are operationally tidy and can evidence things like client concentration, average fee levels, completion rates and consultant productivity. In larger transactions like Heidrick & Struggles’, leadership has emphasised that going private will let them invest more heavily in technology and product development, something that is only credible because the underlying business is already tightly managed. If your back office would survive a forensic look from someone else’s finance team, that is another strong sign you are ready.
5. You know what you want from a deal, and what you won’t give up
The last sign is more personal: clarity on your own agenda. Many executive search firm owners have now had the call from larger groups or investors, and the feedback is remarkably consistent: the hardest part is not price; it is deciding what kind of partner and future they actually want. Some accept a lower‑than‑hoped valuation in exchange for a clean exit. Others prefer an MBO or minority investment, staying on for another three to five years to build something bigger.
When Heidrick’s CEO described the Advent/Corvex deal as a “pivotal moment”, he talked about two priorities: immediate value for existing shareholders and a better platform for colleagues and clients going forward. Mid‑market sellers say similar things in quieter language: they want a partner who will respect the culture, back international or service‑line expansion, and give them meaningful equity in the next chapter. If you are clear on your red lines – whether that is staying boutique, protecting your team, or securing capital to scale – and you can articulate a growth story that a buyer can plug into, you are far closer to being “really ready” than the firms simply waiting for a magic multiple.
In conclusion, stepping into a transaction is rarely just a financial decision. For founder led firms, it’s emotional, personal and deeply tied to identity. It asks you to evaluate not only what you have built, but what you are prepared to let go of.
That is why the firms that navigate investment and acquisition best are rarely the ones chasing a deal. They are the ones quietly preparing for one. Strengthening the business, professionalising operations, building leadership depth and sharpening their position long before a conversation ever begins.
Readiness is not about predicting when the phone will ring. It’s about knowing that if it does, your business would stand up to scrutiny and still feel like something you want to scale rather than something you are relieved to sell.