Recruitment Search · Built Environment · London & the South East
Recruiting recruiters is different. The best aren't waiting to be found.
Your future hire is probably working long hours, being watched closely and acutely aware that one conversation in the wrong place can travel quickly. They may be curious, they may even be ready to move. But that doesn't mean they're ready to send a CV. Lusso Search is built for precisely this market.
One conversation. No obligation. Complete discretion.
The Hiring Reality
This may be the hardest talent market you recruit into. Because recruiters know exactly how recruitment works.
They're hyper-aware
Recruiters know when they're being approached. They read the approach, the tone and the intent faster than almost any other candidate you'll ever hire.
Discretion is everything
This is a small, highly connected industry. One careless message and your search is common knowledge - and your candidate is compromised.
They're rarely available
Successful recruiters work long hours, bill hard and are watched closely. They don't browse job boards. They don't apply. They have to be found.
Intent can change
A terrible week can make someone want to move. A great quarter can make them stay. Intent in this market shifts faster than in any other.
Gossip shapes decisions
Candidates hear stories about firms - some true, some not. Reputation travels faster than any advert you'll ever place.
Most have no CV
The person you want may not have written a CV in years. If they're good, they've never needed to.
This is why sending four CVs tomorrow isn't the Lusso promise.
Before the Search
Before Richard searches the market, he'll test the brief against it.
Most hiring briefs and vacancy specifications are written from inside the company. But the market doesn't see you, your firm and the opportunity through your lensit from the inside. Richard will test every element of your brief against what the market is actually doing, thinking and expecting - before a single conversation starts.
"Sometimes the search starts by rebuilding the vacancy proposition."
If the brief doesn't hold up against the market, Richard will tell you. That's more valuable than a search that fails three months in.
Our Search Process
A search built for the reality of this market.
Discovery
Can this hire be made?
- Is the salary competitive?
- Is the commission structure attractive?
- Is the culture sellable?
- Is the role realistic?
Positioning
Why should someone good move?
- What's the real opportunity?
- What's the career story?
- What makes this different?
- Who would this appeal to?
Mapping
Who should hear about it?
- Known market - targeting the obvious competitors
- Created market - finding people who don't know they'd move
Conversion
Turn interest into a hire.
- Managing the conversation
- Managing the counter-offer
- Managing the resignation
- Managing the start
How Our Search Works
Richard opens the market in two directions: the known market (those already actively considering opportunities) and the created market (the formant candidates with motivation to move but have yet to take action).
A Search Works Both Ways
Discretion requires transparency.
You're trusting Richard with your hiring reputation. In return, he trusts you with full visibility of how the search is being run - and the sensitivities that shape it.
Who you've spoken to
Full transparency on every approach already made - so Richard doesn't duplicate effort, step on toes or burn bridges.
Who has declined
Honest reporting on who said no, and why - so Richard can stay away from covered ground or embarassing scenarios for your brand.
Past employees & competitors
Clear visibility of where your ex-staff sit and which competitors are off-limits.
Hands-off agreements
noFirm commitments on who canot be approached - protecting your relationships as you'd expect.
What has / hasn't worked
Candid feedback on what's been tried before, so the search doesn't repeat old mistakes.
Anonymised Candidate Profiles
See the calibre we speak with every day.
Property & Surveying Director | £300k Biller | Team & Business Leader
This is a Director-level Built Environment recruiter combining £300k-level personal billing capability with proven leadership of multidisciplinary teams and an small recruitment of…
London Central / City
View ProfilePrincipal Consultant | US Construction Recruiter | $500k Biller
Principal-level recruiter specialising in US white-collar construction, with a proven track record of developing General Contractor relationships and recruiting construction profes…
London Central / City
Building Surveying Recruiter | £270k+ Perm Biller
Experienced Building Surveying and Project Management recruiter with 10+ years' specialist property recruitment experience gained with reputable agencies and own independent recrui…
Hertfordshire / Central London / City.
All profiles are anonymised. Full details shared only after a confidential conversation.
View All Candidate ProfilesWhat You Get With an Introduction
More than a CV. Intelligence you can trust.
Every introduction Richard makes comes with context a CV cannot carry. You'll know the person behind the billing - before you spend a minute interviewing.
Track Record
Their billing history and performance - verified, not claimed.
Desk Economics
How their desk actually works, and what it would look like in your firm.
Relationships
Who they genuinely bring with them - and who they don't.
Motivation
Why they'd move, and what would make them stay - beyond the salary.
Strengths
What they're genuinely good at, not what their CV says they've done.
Development
Where they need support, and whether your firm can provide it.
Ambition
What they want next - and whether your opportunity is a step or a stop.
Conversion
How likely they are to actually accept, resign and start.
Your Side of the Table
He's built the teams you're trying to build.
Thirty years inside recruitment - as a recruiter, manager, senior leader, board director and advisor. Richard understands what firms say they offer and how those businesses actually operate.
He can tell you where someone will fit differently - not merely where a vacancy exists. He works alone, by choice, so every conversation is with him and only him.
30
Years
Built
Environment
Recruiter to Board
Level
What Clients Say
Hires that stayed.
"From the first meeting with Richard it was clear we were dealing with a different class of Rec2Rec. He knew everyone, he knew every company, he understood our markets and probably most importantly every candidate he's ever put in front of us has been spot on - we haven't hired every one but we've never had our time wasted. There's nobody better in this market."
Managing Director
Construction & Property Recruitment
"I've known Richard for well over 10 years now, via two different companies, both as candidate and client, because I have been the candidate and know how thorough he is it's easy to trust what he says about a candidate he introduces to us - not only does he have deep knowledge of our markets and competitors, you can just trust what he says. That should be common but it's not."
Director
Construction, Property & Engineering Recruitment
"Of all the hires we have made through Richard at least half have been through him understanding our business, spotting a gap and introducing someone based on personality and values and skills leading to us creating a role for them. It's resulted in multiple new desks and divisions we wouldn't have even tried to hire for."
CEO
Property, Architecture & Construction Recruitment
Before You Start Searching