FAQS

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Our founder Penny Porter has 20 years' experience as a PR practitioner and a further 8 years' experience in executive search and PR recruitment. She nurtures a vast network of top-tier talent, lives her life with an abundance mindset and is a tenacious headhunter.   

Our virtual support structure and extensive network means that no brief is too big. We enjoy a respectful bond with a set of preferred partners in the London PR Recruitment world and are always happy to make honest recommendations or transparently collaborate as appropriate. We have formalised a long-term partnership in New York and Los Angeles for transatlantic collaboration.

Arcadia Search® is legally recognised and officially registered as a trademark by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), affirming our commitment to brand protection and quality.

The timeline depends on a number of factors, often driven by our clients, but will be agreed on appointment. As best practice in retained executive search, we aim to present a first shortlist within 2-4 working weeks, depending on the brief and various factors. A job offer and signed contract, depending on the agreed interview process, client availability and pivots, would be typically completed within 3-6 weeks from presentation of the first shortlist.  

However, we can move faster. The first brief we took as Arcadia Search took us ten working days to deliver brief to job offer. The successful candidate was a headhunt from our network, proving the value of engaging a recruiter who maintains robust and active PR industry connections.

Arcadia Search is headquartered in London, with partner offices in New York and Los Angeles. We work remotely, but love to visit our clients in their offices. We love coffee and use a number of discrete members clubs in Central London to meet with active candidates or to interview in person when shortlisting for a retained brief.

Arcadia Search is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE+I).  We have an exclusive relationship with preferred partners from a DEI perspective and we are proud to champion diverse talent and foster inclusive opportunities for every client and candidate we serve. 

In celebration of difference, creativity and innovation, we are also neurodiversity advocates, championing the unique strengths that neurodiverse individuals bring to the workplace. By helping our clients recognise, welcome and integrate neurodiversity into their organisations, we encourage them to harness and celebrate a broader range of skills and perspectives.

Partnering with us means engaging with a search firm that is dedicated to creating inclusive workplaces and that champions diversity at every level. We invite you to work with us to not only meet your recruitment needs, but also to contribute to creating a more equitable and dynamic industry for the future.

We are an approved Corporate Member of REC, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. We have passed a robust business assessment that demonstrates that we satisfy REC membership criteria and commit to upholding the ethics of its Code of Professional Practice.

Confidentiality is paramount to our search process. We implement strict protocols to safeguard sensitive information and ensure that both client and candidate details are protected throughout the executive search process. Having been a client and a candidate in the London PR industry, Penny has strong feelings about the importance of discretion, which is why it became one of our fundamental business values.

Our founding principle is to live each day with an abundance mindset, fostering a sense of generosity in all that we do.  This means greeting each morning with boundless optimism, transforming challenges into growth opportunities and harnessing possibilities to drive creativity, innovation and success.

Building on abundance, our further values are discretion, kindness and tenacity.

Discretion is paramount when handling sensitive senior roles. Our commitment to discretion ensures trust, confidentiality and privacy throughout the executive search process. 

Kindness is a guiding principle that shapes our day. In business, the power of kindness has a place alongside respect. Our commitment to kindness fosters strong, positive relationships both in our industry and in the wider world and we only partner with organisations that treat their people well.

Tenacity drives us to relentlessly pursue the best talent and solutions for our clients. Our unwavering commitment ensures we know when to pivot, meaning we are able to deliver outstanding results even in a challenging market. The search isn't over until your role is placed.

Whatever works for you. We will discuss ways of working on appointment, advise on the size of initial shortlist based on executive search best practice and discuss the brief in detail. We might challenge your brief, but everything we do is to ensure that our clients are delighted with our knowledge of the market, the talent we present and the results that we deliver.

Yes, while we specialise in executive search, we also love supporting young talent and are able to deliver a wide range of positions from entry level up to Director across the communications, PR, marketing, digital, content and influencer sectors.

Yes we can. We can talk through on the phone, video call or in person. Please get in touch using the button below and we will get straight back to you. Once we understand your hiring needs and timeline, we can present options and a clear price structure that could work for you.

We offer new businesses (0-3 years old) a New Wave packge, which is a special rate for new London PR agencies to support growth in the essential early years.

We give 1% of our revenue to The Conservation Collective, a global network of 20 local foundations funding grassroots initiatives to protect the environment, restore nature and build climate resilience. 

The Conservation Collective provides local solutions to globally shared challenges by encouraging people to preserve, protect and regenerate nature in the places that they love. Through the Conservation Collective, we support the Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF).

The CPF promotes the preservation of the exceptional beauty and natural value of the Cyclades islands. From collecting marine litter and protecting the Cycladic Sea Turtle to taking care of wild animals in need of rescue and rehabilitation on land, the CPF is a grass roots organisation that enables active citizen participation and impactful volunteering.

If your question is not answered here, please email it to us by clicking below.  

Whilst we do enjoy a variety of specialist subjects, it would help to keep questions around the subjects of executive search; comms, digital, social, influencer and PR recruitment; our specialisms and the global communications industry.