Frame Consulting

What Frame Consulting does

Frame Consulting is a London-based, founder-owned recruitment consultancy established in 2015 by Kate Barron. The firm specializes exclusively in placing talent into consumer-facing businesses across retail, fashion, beauty, food and beverage, travel, and lifestyle sectors, serving clients ranging from early-stage startups to enterprise brands such as Superdrug, Global Fashion Group, and PGL. Its value proposition centers on cultural and mission alignment in candidate placement, with Kate personally curating shortlists and acting as an extension of the client's employer brand rather than operating as a transactional vendor.

The business operates with 1-10 employees and no proprietary technology platform; delivery is fundamentally human-expertise-led, relying on Kate's personal network, campaigning approach to passive candidate persuasion, and trusted advisory relationships with People and Culture teams, CEOs, Founders, and Investors. Frame generates revenue through traditional recruitment placement fees, billed on a quote-based, pay-as-you-go basis with pricing varying by role seniority and complexity. The firm is sales-led, with new business acquired primarily through word-of-mouth referrals and client testimonials rather than outbound marketing campaigns.

The operating model is intentionally boutique and domestically focused, with no disclosed international expansion, technology investments, partnerships, acquisitions, or external funding. Frame's competitive positioning depends almost entirely on the personal brand and network of its founder, which creates both a credible differentiated value proposition and a meaningful key-person concentration risk for any prospective acquirer or investor.

Name

Frame Consulting

Legal name

Frame Consulting

Website

https://frameconsulting.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Frame Consulting is a London-based boutique recruitment consultancy founded in 2015 by Kate Barron, specializing exclusively in placing culturally-aligned talent into consumer-facing businesses across retail, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle sectors in the UK.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Capital & Workforce Transformation Consulting (BPAHACAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Organization Design & Change Management Consulting (BPAHACAD)

Keywords

• Executive recruitment services
• Consumer brand recruitment
• Leadership hiring consultancy
• Talent acquisition services
• Headhunting firm UK

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Recruitment Placement Fees: Frame Consulting generates revenue through recruitment placement fees, typically charged upon successful placement of candidates in client organizations. As a specialist recruitment firm serving consumer-facing businesses, they fill positions across all seniority levels from entry to executive.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Frame Consulting is a London-based recruitment consultancy that helps consumer-facing businesses build exceptionally gifted teams across all functions and seniority levels. The firm sources, assesses, and places candidates for consumer brands while providing advisory services on employer branding, team structure, and data-driven hiring decisions. Founded by Kate Barron in 2015, Frame engages directly with People & Culture teams, CEOs, Founders, Leadership, and Investors.

Product overview

Frame Consulting operates as a single-service recruitment consultancy rather than a product platform. The core offering is executive and professional recruitment services for consumer-facing businesses, with no modular products or distinct service tiers. The company provides end-to-end talent acquisition support including candidate sourcing, cultural fit assessment, employer branding consultation, and team structuring advice. Kate Barron founded the firm in 2015 after leading the Consumer division at a Global Talent Management business.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recruitment Services

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves3 records

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half UK: Global staffing and consulting firm operating across the UK with finance, marketing, and technology recruitment that overlaps with Frame's cross-functional consumer mandates. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same recruitment category rather than a vertical specialist.
• Michael Page UK: Large UK-listed recruitment group with dedicated retail, fashion, and consumer buying practices. Comparable to Frame as a recruiter serving similar enterprise consumer clients (including fashion groups), but at significantly greater scale and breadth.
• Hays UK & Ireland: Global staffing and recruitment firm with a significant UK consumer-retail practice. Comparable as a large incumbent serving the same consumer-facing client base, though operating as a broad generalist rather than a consumer-vertical specialist like Frame.

Direct peers

• Quest Search & Selection: London-based boutique recruitment firm focused on retail, consumer, and hospitality sectors across mid-to-senior level hires. Comparable to Frame in vertical specialization and direct engagement with consumer-brand leadership teams.
• Cobalt Recruitment: Multi-sector boutique recruitment consultancy with a strong consumer and retail practice across the UK and international markets. Comparable to Frame as a professional services recruitment firm with deep consumer-sector relationships and a similar sales-led, relationship-driven model.
• Arthur Edward: UK-based boutique recruitment consultancy specializing exclusively in the beauty, fragrance, cosmetics, and skincare industries. Directly comparable to Frame as a niche, vertical-focused search firm serving consumer-facing beauty and lifestyle brands.
• Hawthorn Chase: London-based executive search firm focused on retail, consumer, and lifestyle brands, placing senior commercial and leadership talent. Closely comparable to Frame's higher-end retail/consumer search work with enterprise consumer clients.
• Ennis & Co: UK-based executive search boutique focused on retail, consumer, and lifestyle sectors. Closely comparable to Frame as a relationship-led, founder-driven boutique serving UK and European consumer brands at executive and board level.
• Wiser Elite: Specialist retail, fashion, and consumer executive search firm operating in the UK and internationally. Comparable to Frame in vertical specialization and senior-level mandate focus within consumer-facing brands.
• Brand Recruitment: UK marketing and brand recruitment specialist covering retail, fashion, FMCG, and consumer sectors. Directly comparable to Frame on consumer vertical focus, marketing-led candidate matching, and SME/startup to mid-market client base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/frameconsult

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Frame Consulting