Lily Shippen

What Lily Shippen does

Lily Shippen Ltd is a UK-based, privately-held specialist recruitment agency founded in 2016 that places Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, Business Support professionals, HR professionals, Virtual Assistants, and Private PAs with UK employers. The firm operates from offices in London and Manchester, serving founder-led businesses, SMEs, large corporates, and high-net-worth individuals across England and Scotland, and has expanded into international placements including the Middle East and Europe. Its core technology is a recruitment platform and candidate management system that supports proprietary free tools, notably a Salary Benchmarking Tool and annual Salary Survey (Salary Survey 2026).

The business model is a transaction-fee recruitment agency charging a percentage of placed candidates' annual salaries for permanent placements (typically 20-30%, exact rate undisclosed), supplemented by usage-based hourly billing for temporary and contract staffing at £12-£70+ per hour depending on seniority and location. A 12-week replacement guarantee backstops every permanent placement, and pricing specifics are not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion is sales-led and content-marketing-supported: dedicated London and Manchester sales teams acquire clients through referrals (83% of business), direct outreach, and inbound demand generated by the salary survey, benchmarking tool, free job description templates, and the firm's blog. Lily Shippen also monetises — and de-risks — the candidate side through its wholly-owned sister company eavolve (launched 2024), which delivers paid training, coaching, and consultancy, plus the free 12-week EA/PA Mentoring Programme and the LS Personal Brand Studio, all targeting the same EA/PA professional community.

Name

Lily Shippen

Legal name

Lily Shippen Ltd

Website

https://lilyshippen.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lily Shippen is a UK-based specialist recruitment agency placing Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, HR and Business Support professionals with founder-led businesses, SMEs, and large corporates from London and Manchester offices, operating on a fee-per-placement and hourly contract model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Permanent Placement Recruitment: Fee-based permanent placement service placing EA, PA, Chief of Staff, HR and business support professionals with client organisations. Backed by 12-week replacement guarantee.
2. Temporary/Contract Recruitment: Payroll services and placement fees for temporary business support professionals covering short-term gaps, project support, maternity cover and temp-to-perm arrangements.
3. Salary Survey & Market Insights: Annual salary survey publication providing market benchmarks for business support and HR roles across UK regions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Lily Shippen is a specialist UK recruitment agency that places Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, Business Support professionals, HR professionals, Virtual Assistants and Private PAs with UK employers on a permanent, contract and temporary basis. Permanent placements are fee-based (a percentage of the placed candidate's annual salary) and backed by a 12-week replacement guarantee; temporary/contract placements are hourly-billed with payroll services handled by Lily Shippen. The firm also offers free content assets (Salary Benchmarking Tool, Salary Survey, mentoring programme) plus paid training and personal branding services.

Product overview

Lily Shippen is a specialist UK recruitment agency operating as a single integrated service rather than a modular platform. Its core offering comprises specialist recruitment placement services for Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, Business Support professionals, HR Professionals, Virtual Assistants, and Private PAs, supplemented by temporary staffing solutions. The portfolio is unified under one brand with two sister services: the EA/PA Mentoring Programme (free 12-week programme run jointly with eavolve) and eavolve itself, which provides paid training and development courses for the EA/PA community. Additional value-added offerings include a free Salary Benchmarking Tool, an annual Salary Survey 2026, and free Job Description Templates covering all core role types. The LS Personal Brand Studio provides personal branding support. The company serves founder-led businesses, SMEs, and large corporates across the UK from offices in London and Manchester.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• eavolve: Sister company launched in 2024 providing training, development, and coaching services for EA and PA professionals.
• LS EA/PA Mentoring Programme

Products and services

• Executive Assistant Recruitment Specialist recruitment service placing pre-vetted Executive Assistants with senior executives across UK businesses, supporting permanent, contract, and temporary hiring needs.
• Personal Assistant Recruitment Specialist recruitment placing talented Personal Assistants with experienced industry experts, covering transactional and administrative support roles.
• Chief of Staff Recruitment Recruitment service for high-calibre, strategically matched executive leadership candidates, placing Chiefs of Staff who act as strategic partners to CEOs and senior leadership.
• Business Support Recruitment Placement of experienced business support professionals matched by specialists who understand operational excellence across various sectors.
• HR Professionals Recruitment Recruitment service for outstanding HR professionals selected by specialists who understand people and culture, covering all HR disciplines.
• Virtual Assistant Recruitment Sourcing of reliable virtual professionals for remote business, executive and personal support, sourced by specialists who understand modern business support needs.
• Temporary Recruitment Flexible temporary staffing solutions for business support and HR roles, covering holiday/sickness cover, short-term projects, maternity leave, and temp-to-perm hiring; billed hourly with payroll handled by Lily Shippen.
• Private PA Recruitment Specialist placement of Private Personal Assistants supporting high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), celebrities and prominent figures with personal schedule management, travel coordination, and household staff liaison.
• EA/PA Mentoring Programme Free 12-week structured mentoring programme for Executive and Personal Assistants, jointly delivered with sister company eavolve, providing career development, personal branding support, and peer networking.
• Salary Survey 2026 Annual market report providing salary benchmarks, market trends, and insights for Business Support and HR markets across the UK, drawing on real-time hiring activity.
• Salary Benchmarking Tool Free online tool allowing businesses to benchmark their salaries against the market to attract and retain top talent, providing real-time competitive positioning assessments.
• LS Personal Brand Studio Professional development offering for EA and PA professionals focusing on personal branding, career visibility, and professional profile enhancement.
• eavolve Training and Development Sister company launched in 2024 providing tailored training, coaching, and consultancy services for EA and PA professionals, offering courses designed by EA and PA recruiters along with ex-high-level EA professionals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 72-hour average shortlist delivery from client brief
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• eavolvecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company and strategic partner launched in 2024, providing tailored training, development and coaching programmes exclusively designed for EA and PA professionals. Partnership enables Lily Shippen to offer post-placement development support, candidate upskilling and the free 12-week EA/PA Mentoring Programme. Emily Mills serves as Head of Growth & Initiatives, heading the joint mentoring initiative.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Michael Page:

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half: Global staffing and recruiting firm with a UK office support and HR practice. Competes with Lily Shippen in temporary and permanent business support recruitment, but as a broad incumbent with a much wider service portfolio.
• Reed Specialist Recruitment: One of the UK's largest generalist recruitment agencies with a dedicated business support and HR desk. Provides broad competitive pressure on Lily Shippen across permanent and temporary business support hiring, but without Lily Shippen's specialist-only focus.
• Hays: Global generalist recruiter with a UK business support and HR practice. Competes with Lily Shippen in HR and office support placements as part of a much larger portfolio, with greater resources and brand reach.

Direct peers

• Cobalt Recruitment: International specialist recruiter with a UK presence placing property, construction, and business support professionals. Overlaps with Lily Shippen on the business support desk and operates a similar specialist-agency model.
• Huntress: UK specialist recruitment agency placing office support, secretarial, HR, and accountancy professionals. Comparable to Lily Shippen in business support and HR focus, with a multi-office UK footprint that exceeds Lily Shippen's scale.
• Badenoch + Clark: UK-based specialist recruitment firm placing executive support, HR, and business support professionals. Direct competitor to Lily Shippen with broader sector coverage but similar positioning in the EA/PA/HR niche.
• Impact Recruitment: UK specialist recruitment agency placing business support, secretarial, and HR professionals. Comparable to Lily Shippen across permanent and temporary business support recruitment in the UK.
• Bain and Gray: London-based specialist recruitment agency focused on Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, and private household staff. Highly comparable to Lily Shippen in scope (EA/PA/private PA), geographic focus (UK), and boutique model.
• Tay Associates: London-based boutique recruiter specialising in Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, and Chiefs of Staff. Direct peer in the same niche as Lily Shippen, with similar boutique positioning and senior support focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/shippenlily
• Facebookfacebook.com/lilyshippen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lily-shippen
• Instagraminstagram.com/lilyshippen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Lily Shippen