From Kitchen Table to Exit: What Founder-Led Businesses Really Need from Executives.
The classic founder story is well known: a brilliant idea, relentless drive, and a triumphant exit. However, the press releases usually leave out the messy, high-stakes reality of what happens in t...
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What a Good Exit Actually Requires: The Final Stretch of a Founder Journey
Julie Waddell signed the Moorish exit deal on her 50th birthday. At around ten o'clock at night, with a neighbour called round to witness signatures, lawyers on the phone having gone backwards ...
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Why We Never Took the Money: Financing, Equity and the Clean Exit
External investment is the default assumption for scaling businesses. The language of fundraising rounds, dilution, angels, venture capital and term sheets has become so embedded in the startup con...
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What Nobody Tells You Before You Join a Founder
The conversation about joining a founder-led business tends to focus on the upside. The equity. The pace. The chance to make a genuine impact rather than move incrementally within a structure that ...
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The Non-Executive Who Changed Everything: A Smarter Way Into a Founder Business
There is a version of the first senior hire story that most founders tell. They needed someone. They ran a process. They made an offer. It worked, or it did not.Julie Waddell's version is diffe...
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No Plan B: What Founders Can Teach Us About Commitment
There is a phone call that Julie Waddell describes, and we keep coming back to it.She is in the park with her children. Her mobile rings. It is the Waitrose buyer. The listing is confirmed. Mooris...
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Scaling Leadership in a High-Growth Trade Giant
Client: MKM Building SuppliesSector: Construction RetailMKM Building Supplies faced a challenge familiar to many high-growth success stories: how to professionalise and scale leadership in a rapid...
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Building a Long-Term Leadership Pipeline
Client: The Co-OpSector: Retail/WholesaleFor over a decade, the Co-op has faced a unique challenge: how to ensure seamless leadership succession in a member-owned business where commercial excelle...
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The Founder-Executive Handover: Navigating the Risk-Aversion Gap
In a founder-led business, there is a specific kind of magic. It is built on kitchen-table grit and a level of personal skin-in-the-game that doesn't exist in a corporate handbook. But as a bus...
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Why the Best Boards are Intergenerational
In the search for leadership talent, ‘energy’ is often the most requested trait. At bpe search, we advocate for a broader, more inclusive definition of that word. True energy isn’t just about speed...
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Lived Experience: Why the Boardroom Needs More Than Just Potential
By Annabel Weeden, Partner at bpe searchIn executive search, we are often presented with briefs that prioritise energy. It is a word that sounds positive, yet I often have to pause and challenge w...
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International Women’s Day: Why the Best Boards Thrive on Difference
International Women’s Day is a chance to step back from the daily “profitability pivot” and celebrate the leaders who are truly moving the needle. At bpe search, we see this day as more than a dat...
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The Visibility Gap: Why High Performance Isn't Always Enough
At the executive level, there is a paradox that often goes unspoken: the leaders most qualified for the next big mandate are frequently the ones least visible to the market. We call this the "...
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Neurodiversity and Leadership: Why Cognitive Diversity Is a Competitive Advantage for Executives
The world of work is changing. The people that organisations employ, the communities they operate within, and the expectations placed on leadership are all evolving – and companies that don't ...
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From Stalled Search to High-Impact Hire
Client: Saville Assessment Sector: B2B SaaS / Assessment Technology Role: Marketing DirectorSaville Assessment is a global leader in psychometric assessment and talent measurement solutions, helpi...
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How Strategic Onboarding Support Minimises Executive Failure and Protects Your Investment
The investment in a senior executive search is substantial. When the ideal candidate accepts the offer, the primary goal of finding the right person is achieved. But the most critical phase for pr...
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Three Defining Leadership Trends the C-Suite Must Master in 2026
As the C-suite in the UK and US look ahead to 2026, the familiar watchwords of "agility" and "digital transformation" will no longer be enough. The future demands a fundamental...
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The Year of the Profitability Pivot: 2025 in Review
The C-suite landscape in the UK and US was fundamentally reshaped in 2025. Forget the chase for growth at all costs; the year will be remembered as the era of the Profitability Pivot. Persistent gl...
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Neurodiversity at Work: Unlocking Untapped Potential for Future-Ready Leadership
On October 16th, 2025, bpe search hosted a thought-provoking and inspiring roundtable titled “Neurodiversity at Work: Unlocking Untapped Potential for Future-Ready Leadership.”Led by Andy Young and...
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The Profitability Pivot: How CFOs and CMOs are Driving Value in a Shifting Economic Landscape
The economic landscape has fundamentally changed, and senior leadership teams are responding with a decisive strategic shift. Gone are the days when growth at all costs was the predominant strateg...
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