Non-Executive Recruitment Consultants
NED Capital is a specialist non-executive recruitment consultancy founded by Adrian Lawrence FCA, a Fellow of the ICAEW with over 25 years of experience working with boards, investors and business owners across the UK. We place non-executive directors, chairs, independent directors and advisory board members for private companies, PE-backed businesses, AIM and main market listed companies, charities and not-for-profit organisations. Every search mandate is led personally by Adrian — there are no junior consultants managing searches independently.
This page describes who we are, how NED Capital is structured and what distinguishes us from the generalist executive search firms that offer NED recruitment as a secondary service. If you are looking for information about our search methodology or how to begin a NED search, see our NED Recruitment Agency or NED Recruitment pages.
Call 0203 137 2496 or email recruitment@nedcapital.co.uk.
Adrian Lawrence FCA — Founder, NED Capital
Fellow of the ICAEW | Holds an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name | Sister practice of FD Capital
Adrian holds a BSc from Queen Mary College, University of London and has over 25 years of experience working with boards, investors and business owners across the UK. He founded NED Capital as a specialist board-level recruitment consultancy — distinct from the NED search practices that generalist executive search firms operate as secondary services. His background as a practising Chartered Accountant, combined with direct experience of working with audit committees, nomination committees and remuneration committees throughout his advisory career, informs how NED Capital assesses candidates and advises clients on board composition.
We had worked with two large executive search firms for NED appointments before approaching NED Capital. Both offered NED search as part of a broader service. The difference with NED Capital was that board-level governance is their entire practice — the depth of candidate knowledge and governance assessment was categorically different. The shortlist was specific to our brief in a way we had not experienced before.
Chair, listed company, South East England
What Makes a Specialist NED Recruitment Consultancy Different
The board-level market is served by a wide range of firms — large international executive search firms with NED practices, boutique board search consultancies, generalist recruitment agencies that have added NED to their service list and platforms that aggregate NED job listings for public application. Understanding how these differ matters for organisations deciding who to work with.
Large executive search firms offer NED search as part of a broader executive practice. Their NED search is typically managed by consultants who also handle CEO, CFO and other senior executive placements. The NED candidate database is a subset of the executive database — candidates who have flagged interest in non-executive roles. The governance-specific assessment competency developed through exclusive focus on board-level appointments is not the same as that built through a mixed executive and board practice.
Generalist recruitment agencies periodically handle NED searches but without the specialist network or governance assessment framework that board-level appointments require. The candidate pool is typically limited to whoever responds to a job advertisement, which self-selects against the most experienced and most selectively available non-executive directors in the market.
NED listing platforms aggregate board-level job postings for public application. These serve candidates who are actively looking for NED roles and organisations that want application-based sourcing. The best NED candidates are not applying to job listings — they are already serving on boards and reachable only through direct professional approach.
NED Capital operates as a specialist board-level consultancy: our entire practice is non-executive director and chair search. Every search we conduct is retained, research-led and personally led by Adrian Lawrence FCA. The candidate network, the governance code knowledge and the assessment methodology we apply are built exclusively around board-level appointments — they are not adapted from an executive search practice.
Our Credentials and Professional Standards
NED Capital is a sister practice of FD Capital, the UK’s leading fractional and interim finance director recruitment firm, and operates alongside Exec Capital and Accountancy Capital as part of a specialist professional services recruitment group. The group is founded and led by Adrian Lawrence FCA, an ICAEW Fellow who holds an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name.
Our governance assessment methodology draws on recognised standards for board-level appointments:
FRC UK Corporate Governance Code — applied to all listed company NED assessments for independence criteria, committee composition requirements and NED tenure standards.
QCA Corporate Governance Code — applied to AIM-listed company mandates for independence assessment and board composition evaluation.
FCA Senior Managers and Certification Regime — applied to regulated financial services mandates for INED designation, SMF function assessment and fit and proper pre-screening.
Institute of Directors — Non-Executive Director Guidance — referenced for board effectiveness assessment and NED competency evaluation across mandate types.
Charity Commission — Trustee Guidance — applied to charity and not-for-profit trustee mandates for governance standard assessment and remuneration compliance.
How We Work — Consultancy Model
NED Capital operates on a retained consultancy basis. Every mandate we accept is agreed in advance with a written brief, a candidate profile and a fixed fee proposal. We do not operate on a contingency-only basis for board-level appointments — the retained model is the appropriate structure for the level of research, direct candidate approach and governance assessment that a board search requires.
The consultancy relationship typically begins with an initial conversation — at no charge and with no obligation to proceed — in which Adrian Lawrence assesses the client’s governance context, the brief for the appointment and whether NED Capital is the right fit for the specific mandate. Some mandates are better served by a different firm; we advise honestly on this at the outset rather than accepting every mandate regardless of fit.
When we accept a mandate, Adrian leads the search from brief definition through to appointment. The client has a single point of contact throughout the process — no handoffs to junior consultants, no changes in consultant mid-search. The consistency of that relationship is one of the most frequently cited advantages in client feedback.
Geographic Coverage
NED Capital places non-executive directors across the UK. We have an active client and candidate network in London and the South East — including Kent, Surrey and the Thames Valley — and work nationally across England, Wales and Scotland. For specific geographic NED search information, see our city-specific pages for London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge and other major UK locations.
NED Search Fees
Our consultancy fee for a NED search mandate is a percentage of the agreed annual NED fee for the appointment. The fee is structured as a retained element payable on mandate acceptance and a completion element payable on appointment. We provide a fixed fee proposal — with no variable or hidden charges — in our engagement letter before mandate commencement. We provide a free replacement guarantee on every permanent NED placement within the first twelve months.
Our Services
Speak to Our NED Recruitment Consultants
Call 0203 137 2496 or email recruitment@nedcapital.co.uk. Adrian Lawrence FCA leads every search personally. Initial conversations are at no charge and no obligation.
NED Capital | Sister practice of FD Capital | ICAEW practising certificate held by Adrian Lawrence FCA
Accredited member of GBC. 
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