Irving Knight Group delivers executive search across 20+ core industries.

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Bad Hires

Hiring the wrong person is one of the most costly mistakes a business can make.

  • Direct Financial Loss

    Salary, onboarding, training and benefits add up fast

  • Lost Time & Momentum

    While the wrong person is in seat, progress slows

  • Missed Opportunity

    Every wrong hire delays the right one

97%

Placement Rate on Consultancy Projects

32 days

Avg. time from engagement to placement

1.7:1

CVs Sent : Client Interviews

Salary, onboarding, training, management time, lost productivity, and the disruption caused when things don’t work out — it all adds up quickly. According to Department for Labor estimates, a bad hire can cost up to 30% of an employee’s first-year earnings. In senior or revenue-critical roles, the real cost is often far higher.

And that doesn’t include the opportunity cost: the deals not closed, the projects delayed, the momentum lost while the right person is still out there.

Let's get it right

Great hires don’t just fill vacancies. They improve performance, strengthen teams, and move businesses forward.

Many organisations hesitate to engage recruiters because of perceived cost. But recruitment isn’t an expense — it’s an investment. The right hire can generate exponential return, often 50x or 100x the fee, through improved results, leadership impact, and long-term value.

Our focus is simple: get it right first time. No volume hiring. No guesswork. Just targeted search, informed decisions, and measurable outcomes.

Cost of a Bad Hire Irving Knight
Outcomes

Focused on proven outcomes, not promises

  • 97% Placement Rate
  • 1.78:1 CVs Sent to Interviews
  • Avg. 32 Day Engagement to Placement

We don’t win by sending more candidates. We win by sending the right ones.

Navigating a Candidate-Driven Market

This is a candidate-driven market — and it has been since the pandemic.

Top talent has options. They’re selective, informed, and expect more than just competitive salary. Securing them requires market insight, credibility, speed, and the ability to position opportunities properly.

We act as your market partner — managing candidate expectations, advising on strategy, and ensuring you don’t lose the people you actually want.

Cost of a Bad Hire Candidate Driven Market

Built Different. Built In-House.

Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member Irving Knight Team Member

We don’t use off-the-shelf recruitment software. We built our own in-house platform, designed by recruiters to deliver faster searches, smarter decisions, and full control end to end.

Advanced Candidate Pipelining

We proactively build and maintain live shortlists long before roles go to market, allowing us to move quickly and present relevant, engaged candidates without delay.

Real-Time Client Feedback Interfaces

Clients can review, comment, and provide feedback instantly, keeping searches aligned, decisions fast, and momentum high throughout the process.

AI-Driven Insights (Ava)

Our in-house AI, Ava, analyses candidate data, market trends, and search performance to support smarter decisions and reduce hiring risk.

Future-Ready Talent Pools

Continuously refreshed talent pools ensure immediate access to high-quality candidates, built for speed, accuracy, and long-term hiring success.

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Approach

Explore Our Approach

Why Us

Why Irving Knight

Trustpilot

FAQs

We’re here to make Executive Search easy to understand. Find answers to the most common questions below.

Our priority is fit, not speed. We take time to understand your background, goals, and motivations, then provide clear insight into each opportunity so you’re only considered for roles that truly align with your experience and ambitions.

We specialise in senior, specialist, and leadership appointments across the markets we serve. Our focus is on roles where experience, judgement, and cultural alignment are critical — typically mid- to senior-level management through to executive and board appointments.

You’ll gain honest market insight, access to high-quality opportunities, and clear guidance throughout the process. Our aim is simple: to help you make the right move, at the right time, with confidence.

No. Our services are completely free for candidates. We are retained by our client partners to manage their hiring processes, meaning there is never a cost to you at any stage.

Our role is to represent your interests professionally, provide guidance throughout the process, and help you assess opportunities objectively — without any financial obligation.

No — if anything, it gives you an advantage. We provide context, insight, and advocacy that ensure your experience and motivations are clearly understood from the outset. Our role is to strengthen your candidacy and guide you through a transparent, well-managed process.

We operate as a retained, partnership-led search firm rather than a transactional recruiter. That means fewer searches, deeper engagement, and a far higher level of commitment to outcomes. By combining sector specialism, market intelligence, and a disciplined search methodology, we deliver hires that are aligned not only to role requirements, but to culture, strategy, and long-term growth plans.

We don’t rely on databases or job advertising alone. Our searches are driven by proactive market mapping, targeted outreach, and insight gained from long-standing sector networks. Candidates are assessed on capability, leadership style, cultural alignment, and long-term potential — not just CV fit — ensuring a robust and well-informed shortlist.

Confidentiality is fundamental to how we operate. Every search is handled with discretion, clear communication, and controlled market engagement. As your representative in the market, we protect your brand, manage messaging carefully, and ensure sensitive information is only shared when appropriate — safeguarding both your business and your candidates throughout the process.

Our retained model is designed to deliver outcomes, not volume. Because we invest the time to fully understand the role, the business, and the wider context, we achieve a consistently high completion rate across our searches. More importantly, our focus is on long-term retention and impact, not short-term placement metrics.

While our process is designed to minimise risk, we recognise that circumstances can change. In the rare event a placement doesn’t succeed, we work closely with our client to address the situation and agree the most appropriate next steps. Our commitment is to the partnership and the outcome — not just the initial hire

Let's talk

Contact Irving Knight Group for Executive Search Enquiries