How FD Capital Works
FD Capital was founded by Adrian Lawrence FCA, a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the ICAEW with over 25 years of experience working with boards, investors and business owners across the UK. He holds an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name. FD Capital is accredited by the Good Business Charter and is a recognised Living Wage Employer.
Our FD and CFO Recruitment
FD Capital is the UK’s leading boutique financial recruitment agency, specialising in connecting companies with Chief Financial Officers and Finance Directors — on a part-time, fractional, interim or full-time basis. Our recruitment process is founder-led, retained and designed to deliver a shortlist within 3 to 7 days.
You want an FD or CFO who can hit the ground running and deliver real change. Our candidates have a proven track record of transforming companies, delivering IPOs, scaling start-ups and navigating private equity investment cycles. Every shortlist is curated personally — we do not use automated matching or job boards as a primary sourcing method.
Industry-Leading FDs and CFOs
The role of the CFO is evolving at pace. Our candidates are not number-crunchers — they are strategists with commercial, operational and financial experience who can lead a business through growth, fundraising, exit or turnaround. We match candidates not just by technical background but by the specific stage, sector and culture of your business.
The CEO-CFO Partnership
We know how vital the CEO-CFO relationship is to delivering a successful strategy. Our recruitment process works alongside CEOs and boards to identify exactly what is needed from the incoming FD or CFO — before we begin the search.
Fractional and Part-Time Options
You do not need a FTSE 500 budget to recruit a CFO or FD. Our fractional CFO and part-time FD services give growing businesses access to senior financial leadership without the cost of a full-time hire. Our experts are available to work in-house, remotely or on a hybrid basis.
UK Coverage
FD Capital is headquartered at Great Portland Street in London with coverage across the UK. We place FDs and CFOs for businesses in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Oxford, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, Milton Keynes, Brighton, Telford, Wolverhampton, Shropshire, and across the London and South East region. International placements are also available through our international finance director service.
“FD Capital has supported SBS Insurance Services over the past three years through the provision of a Fractional FD/CFO. Their expertise has made a significant difference in professionalising our finance function and delivering accurate, timely management information—exactly what our business needed to grow with confidence.” Tracey Rees COO SBS Insurance Services Ltd
Our Services
Industry Leading FDs/CFOs
The Evolution of the CFO Role
London and Beyond
FD Capital is a long-term business partner with our clients, invested in your success and dedicated to finding the best recruitment options for your FD and CFO needs.
Companies are investing in FDs and CFOs to provide credibility with financial institutions, boost investor confidence, and lead investment in AI and automation to enhance efficiency and real-time data forecasting.
Fractional and Part-Time
20+ Years’ Experience
Meet FD Capital
FD Capital covers the full range of senior finance leadership appointments. The sections below set out our core services — click through to each for detailed information.
Finance Director Recruitment
We place FDs across all engagement types: part-time Finance Director, full-time Finance Director, interim Finance Director, fractional FD and portfolio Finance Directors. For specific sectors, we offer turnaround FD, e-commerce FD, SaaS Finance Director and non-executive FD appointments.
CFO Recruitment
Our CFO practice covers part-time CFO, fractional CFO, interim CFO, portfolio CFO and full-time CFO recruitment. We also provide CFO executive search, CFO headhunting, outsourced CFO and CFO advisory services.
Financial Controller Recruitment
We recruit Financial Controllers across all engagement types including part-time FC, fractional Financial Controller, interim FC and group Financial Controller appointments.
Specialist and Executive Search
Beyond FD and CFO search, FD Capital provides executive recruitment for C-suite roles including CEO recruitment, Chief Risk Officer and Company Secretary recruitment. We also place Non-Executive Directors and board-level advisers.
Additional Services
FD Capital’s wider service offering includes pitch deck creation, Director of Digital recruitment, business turnaround specialists, support for raising private equity, M&A specialists, business exit preparation and recruitment for FCA regulated firms
The Same Approach — Applied to Every Practice Area
FD Capital’s methodology applies consistently across every mandate. The practice areas below show the specific roles and engagement models we recruit for — each one led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA.
We apply the same rigorous search methodology to fractional CFO mandates as we would to a full-time executive search — with the added expertise of understanding the fractional engagement model from both sides.
Placing fractional and part-time Finance Directors has been FD Capital’s core practice since 2014. Our approach to FD mandates draws on direct experience of what good finance leadership looks like at every stage of business growth.
FCA-regulated firms require finance and compliance leaders with specific regulatory credentials. Adrian Lawrence FCA holds an FCA practising certificate — giving FD Capital verifiable expertise in what regulated businesses need from their senior appointments.
Every mandate placed through FD Capital carries the credibility of an ICAEW-Registered Practice led by an FCA Fellow with a practising certificate. We hold ourselves to the standards we set for the candidates we place.
Every senior mandate is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA — ICAEW Fellow and FCA practising certificate holder. Company No. 13329383.
Sector Expertise
FD Capital recruits across a wide range of sectors. Our specialist practices include private equity, PE-backed businesses, technology and SaaS, e-commerce, fintech, start-ups and FCA regulated firms and Financial Services.
FCA Regulated Firm Recruitment
FD Capital operates a substantial practice serving FCA-regulated firms — investment firms, wealth managers, asset managers, payments and e-money institutions, fintech, insurance distributors, consumer credit providers and the broader regulated financial services population. Our regulated firm recruitment is led personally by founder Adrian Lawrence FCA, whose 25 years of UK financial services experience and ICAEW practising certificate underpin substantive engagement with the senior management functions, prudential frameworks and conduct disciplines our clients operate under. Through 2024-2026 we have substantially expanded both the role coverage of our regulated firm practice and our published Knowledge Centre content covering the full FCA regulatory landscape.
Senior Manager Function (SMF) Appointments
We place candidates across the principal SMF roles required by FCA-regulated firms, including SMF2 Chief Finance Function CFOs, SMF4 Chief Risk Officers, SMF16 Compliance Oversight holders, SMF17 MLROs, and SMF24 Chief Operations holders for Enhanced firms. Every SMF placement is calibrated to the firm’s SMCR tier — Limited Scope, Core or Enhanced — the substantive scope of the relevant Statement of Responsibilities, and the operational scale required by the firm’s activities. We coordinate the FCA approval timeline alongside candidate notice periods, with end-to-end placement timelines typically running 16-26 weeks for senior SMF appointments. For boards considering combined risk-and-compliance leadership, we also place dedicated Chief Risk and Compliance Officers.
Specialist Compliance, Risk and Financial Crime Roles
Beyond the SMF designations, we place senior leadership across the operational compliance, risk and financial crime functions that support SMF holders. This includes Chief Compliance Officers, broader Heads of Compliance, MLROs and AMLROs, Heads of Financial Crime, Risk and Compliance leadership, Heads of Regulatory Reporting and broader regulatory reporting specialists. Specialist roles that have emerged since the 2022 IFPR and 2023 Consumer Duty implementations — including dedicated Heads of Vulnerable Customers, Heads of Consumer Duty, and Operational Resilience leadership — are an increasingly active part of our mandate book.
Sector-Specialist Practice
Different regulated firm sectors require substantively different senior team capability. We operate dedicated practices for investment firms under MIFIDPRU/IFPR, AIFM-regulated fund managers, payments and e-money firms under the PSR/EMR framework, firms in active FCA authorisation, and the broader FCA regulated firm population as well as the wider financial services sector. Topical specialisms include Consumer Duty Recruitment, DORA Compliance, Operational Resilience, SMCR Compliance and Section 166 skilled person review team build-outs.
Knowledge Centre and FCA Cluster Content
FD Capital’s Knowledge Centre includes a comprehensive 40-guide FCA cluster covering the principal regulatory frameworks our clients operate under — SMCR and the senior management functions, Consumer Duty and the four outcomes, financial crime and AML, FCA authorisation, the principal Handbook modules including SYSC, PRIN, SUP, DISP and PERG, prudential frameworks including ICAAP, MIFIDPRU and IFPR and wind-down planning, and sector-specific compliance for wealth management, asset management and fintech. The depth of the published content reflects the substantive expertise we apply to client mandates — rather than relying on generic recruitment process, our regulated firm practice draws on detailed framework knowledge that informs candidate assessment, client briefing and the calibration of role specifications to the firm’s specific regulatory profile.
Why Boards Choose FD Capital for Regulated Firm Recruitment
Our regulated firm clients typically choose FD Capital for four reasons. Founder-led search — Adrian Lawrence FCA personally leads regulated firm mandates, providing chartered accountant credibility and direct engagement with senior leadership rather than relegating regulated firm searches to junior associates. Substantive sector expertise — our 40-guide FCA cluster reflects the depth of framework knowledge we bring to each search, which translates into more substantive candidate assessment and faster client briefing convergence. Breadth of role coverage — from SMF appointments through specialist compliance, risk and financial crime leadership to sector-specific operational roles, we cover the full senior team requirement for regulated firms. Flexible engagement models — fractional, interim and permanent appointments across the spectrum, with specific traction in fractional CFO and fractional MLRO arrangements supporting firms in authorisation and growth phases. To discuss a regulated firm appointment, call 020 3287 9501 or visit our FCA regulated firms hub.
Affordable and Flexible Recruitment
FD Capital is designed to work for growing businesses. We build flexibility into every search — matching candidates to the specific budget, working pattern and engagement model that suits your business. Whether you need senior finance leadership for one day a week or a full-time CFO, our network covers every requirement.
Companies are investing in FDs and CFOs to provide credibility with financial institutions, boost investor confidence, and lead investment in AI and automation to enhance efficiency and real-time data forecasting. Our candidates operate at the intersection of financial leadership and strategic growth.
Scale Your Business
Our experienced FDs and CFOs have been at the forefront of innovation, working with household names, SMEs and start-ups. They implement strategies for rapid growth, build board-ready finance functions and provide the credibility investors and acquirers require.
Exit and Fundraising Strategy
Are you looking to exit your business or raise private equity? Our FDs and CFOs have extensive experience in navigating exit strategies, increasing company valuations ahead of M&A and building relationships with PE houses and financial institutions. We have an extensive network in the London private equity space and place candidates with deep PE funding experience.
Risk Management and Professional Standards
Outsourcing your FD and CFO recruitment to FD Capital reduces hiring risk and is a more cost-effective alternative to internal recruitment. Our founder Adrian Lawrence FCA holds an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name. FD Capital operates in accordance with the UK government’s executive search code of conduct and is accredited by the Good Business Charter and the Living Wage Foundation.
Start Your Recruitment
FD Capital has been connecting UK businesses with CFOs and Finance Directors since 2018. To discuss your requirements, call 020 3287 9501 or contact our team. You can also read our free guide to FD and CFO recruitment or browse current Finance Director jobs
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