Board Services

Longwater Partners offers a full range of advisory and consulting services to assist our clients with board composition and functionality. We work with publicly-owned and privately-backed companies across a wide range of industries, with a strong and growing presence in the investment trust sector. We ensure good governance and best practice in a range of core areas:

  • Board reviews
  • Succession planning
  • Onboarding and mentoring
  • Compensation benchmarking studies
  • Building a diverse board talent pipeline
  • Introducing advisors
  • Addressing the impact of new regulations and Codes.

Board Search

We advise clients on non-executive board (NED) appointments. We have developed a distinct research process involving inclusive, wide ranging and in-depth candidate sourcing: desk research overlaid with networking and calls to third party market references who provide insightful commentary and recommendations. 

This comprehensive approach directs us towards the most suitable talent and provides extensive referencing upfront. It allows us to access a large universe of potential candidates and highlight the most relevant before any approach is made. Our One Firm approach means that we work in a close-knit team. This borderless collaboration, combined with breadth of coverage, enable a 360-degree picture of each board candidate.

We have a combined track record of 80 years' board search experience. Approximately 60% of our business is conducted at executive and non-executive board level. In the last 10 years we have placed over 250 individuals in Chair, NED, CEO and other senior roles. In the last 2 years alone, we have spoken to 1,254 third party market sources occupying board or ExCo roles. We have provided references on almost 800 board-level candidates.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We have a long-established policy of building balanced, inclusive boards, served by our connection to diversity networks. Over the past ten years, 44% of Longwater appointments have been female with 15% from minority ethnic backgrounds. Globally inclusive, we have identified and relocated candidates from mainland Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.