CEO Executive Search & Headhunting Services

“The search market is very fragmented. There are the big guys who tend to operate at the top of the market, then the rest of it is a very fragmented market. Having a recruitment partner that's been around a long time and has got real tenure in its staff so they know the market, they know who's out there and type of capabilities you can tap into is essential. Getting a perspective on market rates and competition around certain roles is really helpful.

We've got an internal HR and recruitment team and they're certainly good at mid to junior roles, but when it comes to more specialist or senior roles, we want to work with people who have have got a reputation in the market and who are going to attract the right type of candidates as an extension of our own business, and give us access to a really solid talent pool. That’s certainly what Oakstone did for us.

Recruiting Senior go-to-market and commercial roles is pivotal to our value creation plan as an organisation. In my role in the go to market world it’s really important that I don't make missteps in recruitment. Working with the Oakstone team allows me to have certainty around the type and quality of candidate that’s put forward. It reduces a lot of the headache at the front end and gets me a solid shortlist quickly. They allow me to get into the detail of conversations with prospective candidates and not have to troll the market and sift through a lot of individuals. This allows us to move quickly when we get good quality candidates.

Good quality candidates want certainty as quickly as they can. Working with Oakstone allowed us to do that.”

Iain Regan, CCO Totara.

“HiBob are still scaling and Oakstone have hired a couple of roles for us and continuing to do so. I know the candidates that Oakstone put forward have been properly briefed and their drivers are understood before I have calls with them. I'm very confident that candidates that Oakstone has put forward are going to be credible, and they're already sold on the opportunity.

I would absolutely recommend Oakstone - I have already have!”

Chris Bown, HiBob Sales Director

“The SaaS industry has numerous key recruiters. Oakstone has always been one of those, and I've known the team at Oakstone for over 20 years.

Oakstone has placed me in a couple of roles, and I've used them to build my own teams. It’s a partnership that has been forged over 15-20 years. In terms of industry knowledge, the candidate profiling is absolutely fantastic. I would definitely recommend.”

Matthew Wise, CRO Kovai.co

“Two key things stood out to me the most when working with Oakstone. One is a sense of empathy for what it is we do and the pressures of the role. Sometimes I have conversations with Oakstone, and really, we're just discussing the challenges we're facing. It doesn't feel like Oakstone is putting on the hard sell for candidates, and that's important.

When you are in the market for talent, it's essential that you know that they've built that same type of rapport with the candidates, so you're both coming into conversations really well-versed. You're able to get to that human-level conversation quickly.”

Nick Bareham, CRO at Cadmus Tech

“Working with Oakstone is working with an extension of our business, true partners in recruiting, and you stay in pace with what's going on in the market, understanding what the situation is with top talent. I’ve worked with Tristan the most, and he really listens to what we need. It’s not usual in my experience of working with recruitment agencies that they genuinely listen to what you need and follow the brief.

Oakstone’s sense of urgency and genuinely understanding what our needs are and keeping true to that has impressed me the most.”

Spencer Earp, SVP Conga

“It's always a challenge finding the right quality candidates. I lead an EMEA-wide sales team and consistently require top-quality sales professionals. They’re very difficult to find. There's a lot of mediocre out there. Working with Oakstone over the years has helped me weed through the not-so-good and find the great. I think that's built on a good relationship and built on a good understanding between myself and Steve.”

Phil Young, VP EMEA Botify

"One of the things I've done a lot of is open up US companies into Europe. I can think of many examples where I needed to hire rapidly. Oakstone were outstanding; they got me the right people at the right time. Two of the hires that they made for me I've hired into other roles in companies in my portfolio. It's really about the quality. If you get good people, particularly in sales, they onboard quickly, you ramp them quickly, they get to quota quickly, and you can just be relying on that skillset.

I've used Oakstone when I was an operator, when I was running international sales organisations, when I came out of full-time work, and now I am in a plural role as a board member/ chairman/ investor. They've always been consistent in being able to help me. That's why I come back to Oakstone an awful lot because I know that I can rely on the work that they do and the quality of the CVs and the people they put in front of me.

What sets Oakstone apart from their competitors is their ability to be clear about the remit. Oakstone won't just take on any role. They know what they are experts in. That's a differentiator. It is that level of connection; the feedback you get is consistent, it's continual. So, you always know where you are in the cycle.”

Martin Moran - Advisor, One Peak Partners Growth Investors & founding member at Salesforce.com

“Over the past four years, Oakstone has sourced many key hires for us in EMEA across all departments – key managers, sales executives, pre-sales and professional services team members. Their focus on delivery, cultural fit, background checks, transparency and overall professionalism fits well with our own company ethos. This has reflected in the high retention of people we’ve hired through Oakstone”

Rob Bernshteyn - Coupa Software CEO