All answers / S05-B-claude-r2
S05-B | Claude | Observation 2
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Exact question
Which recruiters can find a Group Payroll Director for a UK buy-and-build business? We need someone who has integrated payroll after acquisitions in the UK and Europe.
Complete saved answer
A Group Payroll Director with M&A integration experience is a niche hire, so I’d approach it in two tiers: payroll specialists and executive search firms with a PE or portfolio-company focus.
Payroll specialists (best fit)
• Frazer Jones : Its payroll practice is led by John O’Brien, who recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits. The firm describes itself as a global HR recruitment and executive search consultancy with payroll executive search, permanent and interim services. Of the firms I found, this is the strongest match for a director-level, multi-country brief. [frazerjones](https://www.frazerjones.com/?p=2395) [frazerjones](https://www.frazerjones.com/?p=140035)
• JGA Recruitment : It is a UK and global payroll talent acquisition specialist. Its listings suggest it covers international payroll roles, though I saw more mid-level than director-level work. [jgarecruitment](https://jgarecruitment.com/?p=34)
• Portfolio Payroll : It is a specialist consultancy focused solely on payroll recruitment across the UK and a CIPP corporate partner. It is probably stronger for the team beneath the director than for the director themselves. [a-leads](https://a-leads.co/company/1310115_db8aecdb)
• A CIPP directory-listed payroll agency : The CIPP Payroll Software Directory lists a firm describing itself as the UK’s longest-established payroll specialist recruitment agency, with executive search and payroll project/implementation resourcing. The extract didn’t name it, so check the directory directly. It could be useful for interim integration support. [flippingbook](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/677987738/30-31/)
Generalist firms with payroll or HR coverage
• Morgan McKinley : It has executive search and payroll roles across the UK and Europe, but the postings I saw were mostly manager and specialist level, so I’d treat it as a secondary option.
Beyond payroll specialists
I haven’t verified these through search, so check their current offerings. A buy-and-build business, especially a PE-backed one, may get better results from:
• Finance and HR executive search firms with a PE portfolio practice, since the best candidates may sit in HR operations or finance transformation rather than payroll titles.
• Interim providers, if you need integration capability quickly while you search for a permanent hire.
How to brief them
Ask each firm for concrete evidence rather than general claims:
• Specific placements of payroll leaders at acquisitive groups.
• Candidates who have consolidated payroll platforms across acquired entities (for example, migrating multiple UK payrolls and European bureaus onto one system).
• Experience with TUPE, European works council and local statutory requirements in the countries you’re acquiring in.
• Whether their candidates have worked with PE sponsors and 100-day integration plans.
Running two specialists in parallel, one payroll-focused and one PE-focused, usually gives better coverage than relying on one. If you share the target markets, ownership structure and salary band, I can help draft a brief for them.
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