Hunter Bond

What Hunter Bond does

Hunter Bond is a global specialist recruitment firm founded in July 2014 by Lee Ballen and Steve Perkins, both previously in technology and finance recruitment at SThree Group. The firm operates from six offices spanning London, New York, Singapore, Montreal, Amsterdam, and Dubai, with stated coverage of Europe, North America, and Asia. Its service portfolio is built around three core offerings: Permanent Recruitment Solutions (transaction-based fees as a percentage of first-year salary, with sliding-scale rebate guarantees), Contract Recruitment Solutions (day-rate model with contractor payment management and 24-48 hour shortlist turnaround), and Executive Search Solutions (retained search targeting C-suite and senior leadership, with a 12-week replacement guarantee).

The firm's technical platform comprises a candidate-facing job portal with CV submission and vacancy upload capabilities, a contractor timesheet management system for client approvals, and a proprietary talent network claimed to exceed 1,000,000 candidates. Documented performance metrics include a 1.3:1 CV-to-first-interview ratio, a 6.2:1 first-interview-to-placement ratio, a 98% probation pass rate, and average initial candidate presentation within 72 hours. Vertical specialization spans nine sectors: Technology, Change & Transformation, Quantitative Research & Trading, Energy Trading, Finance, Information Security/Cyber, Risk & Governance, Sales/Marketing/HR, and Operations.

Hunter Bond's go-to-market operates on two channels: direct enterprise field sales targeting clients such as investment banks, FTSE 250 firms, elite quant funds, and fintech startups, plus a self-serve candidate portal for individual job-seekers. The customer base is described in categorical terms (e.g., "Elite Quant Funds," "Award Winning Trading Firms," "Top Fintechs," "Leading FTSE 250 Firms") rather than named logos, suggesting a distributed mix of enterprise and startup clients. The firm is APSCo approved and has accumulated multiple industry awards across 2020-2025 including APSCo Recruitment Company of the Year (2021, 2022, 2025), Recruiter Awards Recruitment Agency of the Year (2024, 2025), Global Recruiter Best Client Service (2023, 2024), and Investing in Talent Best Recruitment Company to Work For (2020, 2021, 2023). Ownership remains with the founders; no external funding, parent company, M&A activity, or institutional investors are disclosed in the source material.

Name

Hunter Bond

Legal name

Hunter Bond

Website

https://hunterbond.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Global specialist recruitment firm founded in 2014, focused on finance and technology hiring across Europe, North America, and Asia. Offers permanent, contract, and executive search services through six offices and a network of over 1,000,000 candidates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Permanent Recruitment: Fees typically calculated as a percentage of the successful candidate's first-year salary. Hunter Bond provides permanent recruitment services across technology and finance sectors with a sliding scale rebate guarantee tailored to client needs.
2. Executive Search: Fees based on a percentage of the candidate's first-year remuneration for senior-level leadership placements. If a placed candidate leaves within 12 weeks, they find a replacement at no extra cost.
3. Contract Recruitment: Contract staffing services with Hunter Bond managing all contractor payments, typically paid on a monthly or weekly basis depending on client requirements. Standard turnaround for providing a shortlist is 24 to 48 hours.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Hunter Bond is a global specialist recruitment agency that sources, screens and places permanent, contract and executive-level candidates for clients in the financial services and technology sectors. The firm operates across eight vertical sectors including Technology, Quantitative Research & Trading, Finance, Risk & Governance, Information Security/Cyber, Change & Transformation, Operations, and Sales/Marketing/HR, drawing on a network of over 1,000,000 candidates to deliver placements typically within 72 hours.

Product overview

Hunter Bond is a multi-award winning global recruitment agency offering a unified service portfolio across three core offerings: Permanent Recruitment Solutions for long-term talent acquisition, Contract Recruitment Solutions for flexible workforce scaling, and Executive Search Solutions for senior leadership placements. The company operates across eight specialized sectors (Technology, Change & Transformation, Quantitative Research & Trading, Finance, Information Security/Cyber, Sales/Marketing/HR, Operations, and Risk & Governance) and serves clients across Europe, North America, and Asia from offices in London, New York, Singapore, Montreal, Amsterdam, and Dubai. Founded in July 2014, the agency's services are powered by an extensive candidate network of over 1,000,000 professionals and are backed by numerous industry awards including APSCo Awards for Excellence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Permanent Recruitment Solutions

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of placements passed their probation period in the last 12 months
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• The Felix ProjectminorOthersCharity partnership supporting food waste reduction and community support. Part of Hunter Bond's CSR commitment to making a positive impact in communities where they operate.
• Children in NeedminorOthersCharity partnership supporting children in need. One of Hunter Bond's recognized charity partners for community engagement.
• Sports ReliefminorOthersCharity partnership supporting sports-based fundraising initiatives. Part of Hunter Bond's corporate social responsibility program.
• Redbridge FoodbankminorOthersLocal charity partnership supporting food security in the Redbridge community. Demonstrates Hunter Bond's commitment to local community support.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SThree: SThree is a global specialist STEM recruitment firm, listed in the UK, focused on technology, life sciences, and engineering. It is Hunter Bond's most direct comparable given that Hunter Bond's founders (Lee Ballen, Steve Perkins) built their careers at SThree before launching the firm, and both companies serve overlapping tech/finance hiring pools.
• Empiric: Empiric is a UK-based specialist recruitment firm focused on technology and digital transformation hiring. It is a direct peer given its comparable niche in tech recruitment, similar UK base, and overlap on change/transformation mandates with Hunter Bond.
• Gravitas Recruitment Group: Gravitas is a global specialist recruitment firm focused on technology, change, and financial services hiring. It directly competes with Hunter Bond across technology and transformation verticals and operates a similar multi-region boutique model.
• Marks Sattin: Marks Sattin is a UK-based specialist recruitment firm focused on finance, accounting, and financial services hiring. It overlaps with Hunter Bond's finance vertical, particularly in investment banking, accounting, and FS permanent and contract recruitment.
• Investigo: Investigo is a UK-headquartered recruitment firm specializing in financial services, professional services, and technology. It is a direct comparable given shared focus on FS and tech contract and permanent placements and similar London-centric enterprise client base.
• Computer Futures: Computer Futures is a specialist technology recruitment firm operating globally with a strong UK presence. It directly overlaps with Hunter Bond's technology vertical, covering software development, cloud, data, and cyber roles.

Broad incumbents

• Hays: Hays is a FTSE 250 global recruitment group operating across 33 countries with deep coverage in financial services, technology, and professional sectors. As a much larger incumbent, it competes with Hunter Bond for enterprise finance and tech mandates but at broader scale and brand reach.
• Robert Half: Robert Half is a global publicly-traded staffing firm specializing in finance, accounting, and technology placements. It directly overlaps with Hunter Bond's finance and tech recruitment verticals and serves many of the same FTSE-style enterprise clients.
• Michael Page International: Michael Page is a global publicly-traded professional recruitment firm, part of PageGroup, with strong finance, technology, and transformation desks. It competes with Hunter Bond on mid-to-senior finance and tech placements across the UK and globally.
• Reed Technology: Reed Technology is the technology recruitment arm of Reed, the UK's largest privately-held recruitment group. It competes with Hunter Bond across technology contract and permanent hiring and shares a UK base with strong enterprise relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hunterbondjobs
• Facebookfacebook.com/HunterBondJobs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hunter-bond

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hunter Bond