What Brandon James does

Brandon James is a UK-based specialist recruitment consultancy founded in 2014, focused on the construction, property, engineering, and legal sectors. The firm is headquartered in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, with an additional London office, and operates with a headcount in the 11-50 range. It serves clients including consultancies, main contractors, developers, sub-contractors, and law firms, placing candidates into permanent and contract roles within its specialisms. The company extends into legal recruitment through its Brandon James Law subsidiary and has expanded geographic activity into the Middle East, including the UAE.

The business operates on a contingency-based recruitment fee model, earning placement fees when candidates are successfully hired by client organisations. There is no proprietary technology platform disclosed; service delivery is built on the personal networks and sector expertise of its consultants. Active job listings as of mid-2026 indicate ongoing recruitment of additional consultants, supporting capacity expansion across existing and new verticals, including Building Regulations Principal Designer.

The firm is privately held with no public revenue or funding disclosures available in the input data. Its competitive positioning rests on vertical specialism and the domain experience of senior leadership (including Managing Director Cliff Kemp, who has 20+ years of construction recruitment experience) rather than technology differentiation. No acquisitions, external investment rounds, or partnerships are disclosed.

Name

Brandon James

Legal name

Brandon James Ltd

Website

https://brandonjames.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Brandon James is a UK-based specialist recruitment consultancy founded in 2014, placing candidates across construction, property, engineering, and legal sectors for consultancies, contractors, developers, and law firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialist Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Services (5613)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction & Real Estate Direct Hire (BPACAFAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Legal & Compliance Direct Hire (BPACAFAJ), Professional & Technical Direct Hire (IT, Engineering, Finance, Healthcare) (BPACAFAC)

Keywords

• Construction recruitment
• Property recruitment
• Legal recruitment
• Contingency staffing
• Specialist recruitment consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Marlow

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Contingency Recruitment Fees: Fee-based recruitment service for employers. Clients do not pay unless they hire a candidate introduced by Brandon James. Fees are based on a percentage of the first year remuneration of the hired candidate.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Brandon James is a specialist recruitment consultancy that places permanent and freelance candidates into technical and professional roles across the UK construction, property, and engineering sectors, including quantity surveying, project management, building surveying, fire safety, CDM/Principal Designer, architecture, health and safety, site management, and engineering. It also recruits legal professionals through its Brandon James Law division, covering law firms, in-house legal teams, paralegals, associates, and partners across multiple specialisms. Employer clients are charged only when a candidate introduced by Brandon James is hired, on a contingency-fee basis.

Product overview

Brandon James is a specialist recruitment consultancy operating as a single unified service offering. The core offering consists of Construction & Property Recruitment Services for placing candidates in surveying, project management, engineering, and building roles, alongside Brandon James Law for legal sector recruitment. The company operates an online Job Search Platform and provides Bespoke Recruitment Services tailored to employer needs. No separate modular product architecture exists—the company functions as a traditional recruitment agency with sector-specific divisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Construction & Property Recruitment Services Specialist recruitment consultancy placing candidates in construction, property, engineering, and building surveying roles across the UK, covering both permanent and freelance positions in sectors including Quantity Surveying, Project Management, Building Surveying, Fire Safety, CDM/Principal Designer, Architecture, Health and Safety, Site Management, and Engineering.
• Brandon James Law Legal recruitment division of Brandon James assisting law firms, legal institutions, in-house legal teams, and legal professionals across all specialisms in the UK and Europe, recruiting from trainees and paralegals through to partners.
• Bespoke Recruitment Services Customized recruitment solutions including candidate sourcing, vetting, and placement services tailored to employer needs in the construction, property, engineering, and legal sectors, with strategies personalized to client culture and project requirements.

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SelleryParmar: UK legal executive search firm placing partners, associates and in-house counsel across law firms and corporates — a direct comparable to Brandon James Law on legal vertical and candidate seniority.
• Cobalt Recruitment: Specialist UK recruitment consultancy focused on construction, property and engineering — closely mirrors Brandon James's core vertical, target client base (consultancies, contractors, developers) and placement model.
• Allen & York: Specialist UK and international recruitment consultancy with construction, property and engineering desks — closely comparable to Brandon James in niche focus and contingency-based placement model.
• Maxim Recruitment: Specialist UK construction recruiter focused on quantity surveying, project management and building surveying — operates the same niche white-collar construction placement model as Brandon James's flagship disciplines.
• Cityscape Recruitment: UK construction & property-focused recruitment agency placing candidates across QS, project management and engineering roles — competes for the same candidate pool and client mandates as Brandon James.
• FRP Recruitment: Independent UK recruitment firm with dedicated property, construction and surveying desks — competes with Brandon James for the same candidate pool and consultancy/main contractor clients.
• Law Staff: UK legal recruitment specialist placing paralegals, fee earners, partners and support staff across law firms and in-house teams — directly comparable to Brandon James Law across the legal vertical.

Broad incumbents

• Hays plc: Global recruitment group with a substantial UK construction & property division placing permanent and freelance professionals across surveying, project management and engineering — directly overlapping with Brandon James's core white-collar construction desk.
• Michael Page: Large professional recruitment firm operating in the UK property, construction and engineering space with permanent placement models that compete head-on with Brandon James's mid-market professional mandates.
• Reed: UK-headquartered generalist recruitment group with dedicated construction, property and legal desks offering both permanent and contract placements — directly comparable in service mix and geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brandonjames
• Xx.com/BrandonJamesJob
• Facebookfacebook.com/BrandonJamesRecruitment

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Brandon James