Industries We Recruit For

Finance, Banking & Private Equity

Financial services environments place particular demands on PA and EA candidates: discretion is non-negotiable, pace is constant, and the ability to support senior investment and leadership teams without close direction is expected from day one.

We have substantial experience placing candidates across:

• Investment banks and commercial banks
• Venture Capital, private equity firms, and hedge funds
• Wealth management and insurance brokers
• Accountancy firms and fintech businesses

Candidates placed in this sector typically have strong experience managing complex schedules, handling sensitive correspondence and working within regulated environments where confidentiality carries real weight. All enquiries are handled with discretion.

Executive Search

Olivia Coughtrie, co-founder of Oriel Partners, has spent more than a decade placing PAs, EAs and Team Assistants within leading executive search firms. She has built a candidate network specific to this sector because she understands it well: the pace, the client sensitivity, the particular demands on support staff who are often the first point of contact for the most senior people in any industry.

Executive search businesses expect candidates who can operate with a high degree of autonomy and commercial awareness, and where confidentiality is not a preference but a given. We work with global practices and independent specialist firms across technology, professional services, financial services, healthcare and not-for-profit, placing candidates from Team Assistant level through to senior EAs supporting managing partners and C-suite leadership. If you would like to discuss a requirement, please get in touch with our team directly.

Private Household, UHNW & Family Office

Recruiting Private PAs, Travelling PAs, Celebrity Assistants and support for Royal Households and private family offices is a specialist area requiring careful candidate matching and absolute discretion. These environments have demands that go well beyond those of a corporate role:

• Managing multiple properties and residences across different countries
• Coordinating complex personal schedules, international travel and private events
• Supporting family offices across both personal and business responsibilities
• Working with a high degree of autonomy, often without a formal management structure

Candidates in this sector need to be trustworthy, adaptable and capable of exercising sound judgement without close supervision. We take a detailed approach to every brief. All enquiries are handled in strict confidence and we would encourage you to speak with us directly to discuss your requirements.

Technology & Fintech

The technology sector moves quickly and the culture tends to differ from more traditional corporate environments, though the standard expected of support staff is no less exacting. We have lots of experience recruiting for fintech businesses specifically, where candidates need to be comfortable operating across both financial services and technology cultures simultaneously. Support staff in this sector are often asked to take on a broader remit than a comparable corporate role, and the best candidates tend to be those who see that as an opportunity rather than an imposition.

We work with businesses across the full spectrum of size and maturity, and regularly place EAs, PAs, Office Managers and Team Assistants in both permanent and temporary roles.

Start-ups

Start-ups require a specific type of PA or Team Assistant: someone willing to take on junior tasks as well as support senior management, who thrives when priorities shift quickly, and who has the versatility to help build processes rather than simply follow them. The role often carries more responsibility and variety than an equivalent position at a larger organisation, with faster decision-making, genuine involvement in how the business operates and clear scope for career progression as the company grows.

Our consultants have significant experience recruiting for early-stage businesses and understand what makes a candidate genuinely suited to a start-up environment rather than merely willing to work in one. We supply permanent, contract and temporary support.

Media, Creative & Digital

Culture fit carries more weight in creative hiring than almost anywhere else. A candidate who is entirely at home in a corporate setting will not always thrive in an agency, a production company or a publishing business, and the difference tends to show quickly.

We work with digital, PR and communications agencies and in-house teams, social media, publishing and media production businesses, and broadcasting and creative production companies. We take time to understand the culture of each business before presenting candidates, which is why our shortlists in this sector tend to be considered rather than broad.

Property

Property businesses rely on well-organised administrative and PA support across all functions, and the breadth of the sector means candidate requirements vary considerably. A PA supporting a residential agency director has a different profile to one supporting a REIT investment team or a property development business. We recruit across all of these, placing candidates at every level from Office Managers and Team Assistants through to senior EAs supporting partners and directors.

A significant proportion of our property mandates come through repeat business and client referral.

Management Consultancy

Management consultancy firms are demanding of their support staff and of their recruitment partners. Candidates placed in these environments need proven experience managing high-volume, complex international travel across multiple time zones, constantly shifting diaries and inbox management for senior consulting teams who are frequently out of the office and expect their EA to anticipate rather than wait. The ability to remain calm, accurate and efficient under sustained pressure is not optional.

We work with global and independent consultancy practices and recruit for permanent, contract and temporary requirements.

Hospitality & Luxury Retail

Hospitality groups and luxury retail brands require administrative and front-of-house support professionals who combine genuine organisational capability with high personal standards and client-facing confidence. Brand representation matters in this sector in a way that it does not elsewhere: a candidate who is technically proficient but wrong in presentation or manner is the wrong candidate, regardless of their CV.

Candidates placed in this sector are assessed against both the role brief and the brand standards of the client - experience, presentation and temperament all carry weight. We work with hospitality groups and luxury retail brands across London and the UK.