Built for businesses that refuse to stand still.
Executive search and interim leadership for privately owned, private equity-backed and listed businesses going through growth, transformation or turnaround.
The biggest limit on growth is almost always people. Not strategy. Not technology. Not the market. What holds most businesses back is not having the right leaders in place.
We work with privately owned and private equity-backed mid-market companies, typically under £1bn turnover, as well as listed businesses, across the UK, Europe and internationally.
We work across sectors. A proven CFO, COO or CIO brings the same core ability to any business: they know how to make it perform.
Every business has a ceiling: a point where the people and processes that built it are no longer enough to grow it. It usually arrives with new ownership, a turnaround, or growth that outpaces the team.
We exist to help businesses break through it.
Our
Mission
We exist to put the right leaders in the right seats.
Retained Executive Search.
For permanent board and senior leadership appointments. Every search is a dedicated, exclusive assignment, so you get our full attention and a shortlist of people who can actually do the job.
Interim Leadership.
Experienced executives who can start within weeks, not months. For turnarounds, rapid growth, transformation programmes, or covering a critical gap while you find the permanent hire.
Leadership Advisory.
An independent view of your leadership team. We assess whether you have the right people for the plan, audit how you hire, and support outplacement when roles change.
Market Intelligence.
Salary benchmarking, competitor talent mapping and market insight, so your hiring decisions are based on facts, not guesswork.
How a retained search works.
We define the role around what the business needs to achieve, and tell you if the brief is wrong. We map the market and approach the strongest candidates, most of whom aren't looking. We assess properly, with multi-stage screening, first interviews and personality profiling. You can track progress at any time through our online candidate portal. Then we manage the offer, negotiation and resignation so your chosen candidate actually starts.
James Plant, Founder and Managing Director
James started his career in Formula 1, one of the most demanding performance environments there is. It taught him that small differences in people make big differences in results.
Over 15 years he has placed senior leaders across motorsport, automotive, real estate, engineering and private equity-backed businesses, working with everything from growing SMEs to FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 companies.
He founded Sinclair James to work differently: as an adviser, not an order-taker. That means being honest with clients, even when it challenges what they thought they needed.
James also hosts the High-Performance Leaders Podcast, where he talks to senior executives about what it takes to build and run businesses that perform.
Tell us where you are and where you need to be. A 20-minute call is usually enough to know whether we can help. If we can't, we'll tell you. Email hello@sinclairjames.co.uk
