We help growing SMEs to appoint senior leaders on a permanent, interim and fractional basis. We recruit at senior management to board level. 

How we help you appoint high performing leadership talent

We treat our clients and candidates as individuals, not numbers on a database.  From our first conversation with you, our aim is to be considered a true business partner and trusted adviser. 


Freshwood is not a high volume 'agency', meaning our clients can expect us to invest the appropriate time and resources, to ensure we understand their requirements, company culture, challenges and opportunities. 


Likewise, we engage with candidates beyond their CV, taking the time to understand their story so far, career aspirations, strengths, and values.


Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss your specific requirements or the market in general.


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C-Suite and Operating Board


We help SMEs appoint experienced senior leaders to guide strategy, drive performance, and lead through change. Our search process is discreet, thoughtful, and shaped by deep relationships with proven executives.


Whether you're strengthening an existing team or making a critical new hire, we’ll help you find individuals who fit your culture and bring immediate impact.


Typical roles include CEO, CFO, COO, CCO, CPO, Managing Director, Finance Director, Commercial Director, Operations Director, and HR Director.



Over the last 50 years, we have acted for companies of all shapes and sizes across multiple industry sectors. Whether our clients are backed by investors, privately held, family owned or publicly listed, we are skilled at assessing a candidate's technical ability, cultural fit, motivation and leadership qualities. 


What we believe sets us apart from many of our competitors, however, is our personal approach and the high level of attention we give to our clients and candidates. 


Each recruitment project is unique, and we adopt a strategy and approach which is bespoke to each appointment, ensuring we successfully meet the requirements of the brief. It’s for these reasons we believe clients work with us on a repeat basis. 



Experts


How we help you appoint high performing finance talent

We are not a high volume 'agency', meaning our clients can expect us to invest the appropriate time and resources, to ensure we understand their requirements, company culture, challenges and opportunities. 


Our expertise includes:


  • CFO / FD search for private, investor backed, publicly listed and family owned companies.
  • Financial Controller, M&A, Heads of Function e.g. FP&A, Financial and Management Reporting.
  • Talent Advisory services for early stage, high growth companies.


We act for companies throughout the UK across all industry sectors, to deliver recruitment solutions on a Permanent, Interim and Fractional basis.


Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss your specific requirements or the market in general.


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Future Leaders

Ambitious senior professionals just below board level can bring fresh energy and deep functional expertise to growing businesses. These future leaders often play a pivotal role in driving change, supporting strategy, and preparing to take the next step.


Typical roles include Heads of Finance, Financial Controllers, Heads of FP&A, Group Financial Analysts, Senior Commercial Managers, HR Business Partners, and Operations Leads.









Future Leaders


Ambitious senior professionals just below board level can bring fresh energy and deep functional expertise to growing businesses. These future leaders often play a pivotal role in driving change, supporting strategy, and preparing to take the next step.


Typical roles include Heads of Finance, Financial Controllers, Heads of FP&A, Group Financial Analysts, Senior Commercial Managers, HR Business Partners, and Operations Leads.






Interim and Fractional Experts

Experienced, adaptable, and highly effective, interim and fractional leaders bring calm, clarity, and hands-on support when it’s needed most. Whether stepping in during a period of change, covering a leadership gap, or guiding a team part-time, they offer deep expertise without the long-term commitment.


Many of our fractional leaders act as mentors to founders and senior teams — providing strategic input, financial oversight, or operational guidance on a flexible basis.




Industry Sectors

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 Just highlight the words you want to design and choose from the various options in the text editing bar. 

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This is a text area for this paragraph. To change it, simply click and start typing. Once you've added your content, you can customise the design with different colours, fonts, font sizes and bullets. 

Just highlight the words you want to design and choose from the various options in the text editing bar. 

Our Process

  • 1. Establish the Brief

    We work with our client to define the role, success criteria, and context. This ensures clarity on requirements and alignment before we begin the search.

  • 2. Map the Market

    We research the market and build a robust longlist of relevant individuals. This list is the foundation of the search and remains dynamic until completion.

  • 3. Candidate Engagement

    We approach and qualify candidates directly, presenting the role clearly and assessing skills, motivation, and fit before shortlist stage.

  • 4. Client Assessment Process

    We coordinate interviews and manage feedback. Our involvement ensures consistency and a smooth candidate experience.

  • 5. Offer Management

    We help and advise with package negotiations and aim to manage expectations, ensuring  a smooth transition through to signed offer. 

  • 6. Post Search

    We stay in touch post-placement to support onboarding.  We follow up with client and candidate at 3 and 6 months.  

We stay in regular contact throughout the process, providing clear progress updates and tailored reporting to keep you informed. We're not a 9–5 business — we’re responsive, accessible, and committed to moving at your pace.

Board Level Search 

We help ambitious businesses appoint CEOs, COOs, and MDs who lead with vision, drive performance, and inspire teams.


Whether you’re scaling, transforming, or planning succession, we’ll help you find the leadership to get there.


Our search model is built to deliver leaders who shape strategy and accelerate growth. We work closely with founders, boards, and investors to identify, attract, and appoint the right people in the right roles.





We operate a zero 'off limits' policy, so our clients can be confident that we have scoured the entire market.


Our Partners manage the entire process, from initial briefing through to completion. 


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Future Leaders 

We begin by investing the time to understand our client's business model, culture and specific leadership needs. We do this via thorough discovery sessions with key stakeholders to define the ideal candidate profile.


We map the market, build a targeted longlist of prospects and we begin our discreet approach work.  We provide regular progress updates, we screen shortlisted candidates in depth and we provide detailed reports on each candidate. 


We operate a zero 'off limits' policy, so our clients can be confident that we have scoured the entire market.


Our Partners manage the entire process, from initial briefing through to completion. 

Interim 

We help ambitious businesses appoint CEOs, COOs, and MDs who lead with vision, drive performance, and inspire teams.


Whether you’re scaling, transforming, or planning succession, we’ll help you find the leadership to get there.


Our search model is built to deliver leaders who shape strategy and accelerate growth. We work closely with founders, boards, and investors to identify, attract, and appoint the right people in the right roles.





We operate a zero 'off limits' policy, so our clients can be confident that we have scoured the entire market.


Our Partners manage the entire process, from initial briefing through to completion. 


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Interim

Finance

Freshwood provides interim finance professionals, typically for periods of change.  The experience and value that a professional interim can bring, will ensure business continuity during transitions, projects, or leadership gaps.


From Financial Controllers to CFOs, we deliver skilled, adaptable talent to meet your short-term needs. 





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Fractional CFO

The experienced Fractional (Portfolio / Part-Time) CFO has grown in popularity in recent years.  Generally they have taken a deliberate decision to leave their full time executive career, in order to support companies and boards with strategic financial leadership on a flexible basis. 


Whether guiding / mentoring a less experienced CFO or supporting a specific project e.g. M&A, we are connected to an extensive network of highly experienced CFOs.


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Clients we have worked with

We've been recruiting in finance for more than 50 years.


Assessing technical skills, cultural fit, motivation and leadership capability is where we excel.


We get to know our candidates in depth, by asking probing questions, challenging their answers and most importantly, we listen intently.


Experts

We've been placing accountants for over 50 years. Identifying the right experience, skillset, industry sector etc. is not the hard part. 


Assessing cultural fit, motivation and leadership skills is when we come into our own. We get to know our candidates by asking probing questions, challenging their answers and most importantly, we listen.

 


Industry Focus

Technology





Consumer


Sustainability

Industrial

Travel and Leisure


Healthcare



Education


Business Services


Industry Sectors

Technology

Consumer

Sustainability

Nutrition and Well-being

Travel and Leisure



Healthcare

Education

Business Services

With a few kind words


Some kind words from our clients



Contact us

We instructed Fiona on a role that we have historically found difficult to fill. We worked very closely with her, developing a full job description and person specification. She was very knowledgeable and able to advise us on the best recruitment strategy to identify the successful candidate. It was not easy search but she found us the perfect candidate!

Healthcare CFO

I have known Phil for a number of years. He successfully completed a search for our UK Finance Director position. Throughout the search Phil invested time to make sure that he understood my requirements, our business and our culture. He demonstrated his knowledge and experience by presenting a timely shortlist of extremely strong and relevant candidates, from which I was able to select our UK FD.

Retail CFO

Fiona led the search for a new Group Financial Controller.
I was very impressed with the whole process; given regular weekly updates, a very strong preliminary candidate list and saw some very good candidates, one of which we ultimately offered the job to.
 
I found Fiona to bevery knowledgeable, easy to work with and focused on delivery.  Would definitely use her again. 

CFO - Tech Manufacturing

We have worked with the team at Freshwood Group for a few years. Over that time they have really got to know & understand our business, culture and values which is always reflected in the candidates they introduce to us. They have worked hard to build a relationship with whole business and have always given us professional and timely service.  

VP HR, EMEA - Software (SAAS)

Phil led our search for a new CFO. I was very impressed with the whole process; given regular weekly updates, a very strong preliminary candidate list and saw some very good candidates, one of which we ultimately offered the job to.
 
I found Phil very knowledgeable, easy to work with and focused on delivery.  Would without doubt use him again. 

Group HR Director - Automotive

Freshwood were creative in their approach, stayed in regular contact and were quite prepared to challenge us when they felt it was necessary.  We successfully appointed a CFO, who supported the CEO in an exit process within 12 months. 

Private Equity Investor


We just work very hard for you.