My work covers four linked areas: candidate due-diligence on near-final appointments, senior hiring, and succession planning.

Candidate Due-Diligence

When a preferred candidate has emerged, and you want a more rounded view before committing, I deliver a due-diligence style decision check built around mandate/role-specific risk questions, structured formal and off-the-record referencing, and triangulated alumni and peer perspectives.

The focus is on observed behaviour in the situations that matter, including:

• judgement under pressure and regulator-facing posture,

• leadership style and followership,

• handling of conflict, setbacks and political heat, and

• client judgement, discretion, and governance instincts.

The output is a redacted brief and a clear conclusion: "Go", "Go With Guardrails", or "Consider Pausing", with practical implications for offer terms, onboarding and early oversight, followed by a discussion to unpack sensitive context.

Senior Hiring
For leadership and key client-facing roles, I support the definition and filling of seats, such as:

• senior fiduciaries and business heads

• practice and regional leaders, partners, counsels and directors

• regional, product, and solutions leaders

• corporate function roles where private client sector experience is a must-have

I help shape the role, identify credible external options across relevant peer sets and jurisdictions, and test mutual interest and fit. Shortlisted individuals are taken through structured conversations on remit, leadership style, risk posture, constraints and timing, so that by the time they meet the organisation, both sides are dealing in realistic options rather than hopeful names.

Discreet competitor engagement and introductions (revenue roles)

Using alumni-informed research to identify and prioritise credible individuals and teams, I facilitate discreet introductions to:

• UHNW and HNW advisors

• Client Directors (fiduciary businesses)

• Fee earners (Partner and Partner-1 levels) in private client and trust/tax practices at law firms (offshore and onshore)

Succession Planning

Where boards, sponsors or families are exposed to one or two individuals in critical seats, I build a quiet external view of who else could credibly do the role over the coming years. You receive a redacted brief setting out:

• who appears ready now

• who may be realistic over time

• who is worth watching.

The brief also addresses what would have to change, in their world or yours, before a move would make sense, including relocation, licensing or cross-jurisdictional considerations. Identities and nuance are then covered in discussion with those accountable for succession.

Where it matters to go beyond “who could” to “who would,” the work can move into a second stage: discreet approaches to assess genuine openness and practical constraints without naming the client at the outset. This is often the difference between a theoretical succession plan and an actionable one.