Comparison

RecXchange vs Retained Search

Retained search has long been the gold standard for senior and executive hiring — but it carries a premium price and significant risk. Retainers of 30–50% of the total fee are paid upfront, with no guarantee of a placement. RecXchange delivers access to the same quality of senior specialist recruiter networks with a pure success fee model: no retainer, no upfront cost, and payment only when a candidate accepts an offer.

What You Pay: Retained vs Success-Only

Retained search firms typically charge 30–35% of first-year total compensation, structured across three payments: 30–50% on engagement, 30–35% on shortlist delivery, and the balance on placement. For a £100,000 role, that's £30,000–£35,000 total — with £9,000–£17,500 paid before a single candidate is presented. If the search fails (and searches do fail), you may recover part of the retainer — or nothing. RecXchange charges 12–20% payable only on a successful hire.

Senior Candidate Access on RecXchange

The premise of retained search is exclusive access to a headhunter's deep senior network. RecXchange doesn't have one headhunter — it has 15,000+ specialist recruiters, many of whom are boutique executive search specialists in their sector. For CFO hires, VP Engineering searches, Chief Operating Officers, or any senior role requiring genuine sector depth, RecXchange activates multiple specialist networks simultaneously rather than relying on a single firm's database.

Exclusivity and Commitment

Retained search requires full exclusivity — no other firms, no parallel process, complete commitment to one search firm for 8–16 weeks. RecXchange is non-exclusive. You can run a RecXchange search alongside any other process. And because RecXchange's Xchange Engine matches your role to multiple specialist recruiters simultaneously, the parallel processing is built in — not prohibited.

When Retained Search Still Makes Sense

True C-suite and board-level searches — CEO, Chair, NED appointments — still benefit from a dedicated retained search partner where the relationship management and market mapping elements are as important as the candidate delivery. Below C-suite level, and particularly for VP, Director and Head-of roles, RecXchange consistently delivers comparable candidate quality at 40–60% lower cost with no upfront risk.