Claude: both observations

I’d shortlist a few firms, though I can’t verify from public pages which of them has placed someone with your exact buy-and-build, multi-country payroll integration background. Ask each for specific examples.

Specialist payroll executive search

• Frazer Jones looks like the closest fit. It describes itself as a global HR recruitment and executive search consultancy with a dedicated payroll executive search service. Its Executive Director for payroll recruits executive payroll and benefits professionals with UK, EMEA and global remits. It also publishes content aimed at private equity backed businesses, which suits a buy-and-build context. [Book a consultation +2](https://frazerjones.com/?p=140035)

• Middlemore is a specialist firm covering Global Payroll, HR, HRIS, Finance, Reward and works with high-growth and private equity-backed companies. Its services include talent mapping and interim options, and it covers payroll transformation and implementation, which overlaps with post-acquisition integration. [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore) [gpa](https://gpa.net/blogs/directory/middlemore)

Broader HR and finance recruiters with payroll practices

• Morgan McKinley has executive search and payroll roles, including EMEA payroll. Its public listings skew towards lead and specialist level rather than director level, so test its depth at your seniority.

• Oakleaf Partnership and Hays both recruit payroll leadership roles, including Payroll Director and national payroll director mandates. They are generally better for volume and mid-senior hires than for a niche retained search. [aicpa-cima](https://mycareer.aicpa-cima.com/job/4462555/group-payroll-manager/) [dwp](https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/details/18125779)

PE-focused executive search

• Directorbank specialises in executive and non-executive search for Private Equity investors, their portfolio companies, and other entrepreneurial businesses across the mid-market. It isn’t payroll-specific, but it understands the sponsor-backed environment. Your PE investor’s operating partner or talent team may also have preferred search firms. [pitchbook](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/advisor/42744-34)

Tips for the brief

• Define “integrated payroll” tightly. For example, say how many acquired entities, which payroll platforms they were consolidated onto, whether they moved from outsourced to in-house, and which countries were involved.

• Ask each firm for two or three comparable placements and how they would map the market. Candidates with real M&A payroll experience are usually at advisory firms, PE portfolio companies, or multi-site services groups.

• Consider running one retained search with a specialist alongside an interim or fractional payroll lead, which several of these firms offer, so integration work doesn’t stall during the search.

If you share your approximate headcount, number of entities, and target countries, I can help draft a role brief or a list of questions to put to these firms.

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.