Home / Team / James Garrick

James Garrick

Founder & Chairman

james.garrick@garricktalent.co.uk

James spent twelve years at a large London executive-search boutique, running board and senior leadership mandates across financial services and professional services, before leaving in 2020 to build something he felt the market was missing: an agency that is genuinely honest with the people it represents, staffed only by senior consultants, and free for candidates from first conversation to signed offer.

The name is a deliberate nod to an older London tradition — the establishment convention of introductions made on reputation rather than fees. James founded Garrick Talent on the belief that a good introduction is still the most valuable thing in a career, and that the firm making it should be judged on the quality of its judgement, not the volume of its database.

Since 2020 he has grown the firm from a single London desk to around one hundred people across four UK offices, while insisting the founding standards hold at every scale: no junior screeners, no CVs sent without permission, and a shortlist you can actually read. As Chairman he now sets the firm's direction while Managing Partner & CEO Kerry Howard leads it day to day; he remains personally involved in the firm's most senior board and C-suite searches.

James writes the firm's annual year-in-review series, an unusually candid look at what worked, what didn't, and where the UK hiring market is heading.

Focus

• Board and non-executive appointments
• C-suite and managing director search
• Leadership hiring across financial and professional services
• Firm strategy and the senior-only operating model