Refreshing

What Refreshing does

Refreshing is a London-based, privately held senior finance recruitment firm founded in 2013. The company places candidates into CFO, FD, FP&A, and other senior finance roles at salary bands of £60k–£250k, serving both major corporate brands and fast-growth start-ups. The firm is led by Joe Jones, who heads the Senior Finance Division with twenty years of recruitment experience, alongside Charlie, and operates with a headcount of 1–10 employees. Refreshing generates revenue through three lines: traditional contingency placement fees, a monthly retained partnership/subscription model providing ongoing retention support and on-demand recruitment, and the Signal programme — an invitation-only quarterly intelligence community of 200 senior finance leaders offering peer signal reports, monthly pulse notes, and networking events.

The subscription product is positioned as a structural alternative to transactional contingency fees, charging a single monthly cost below one traditional placement fee for twelve months of proactive retention analysis, benchmarking, CV analysis, market intelligence, and fast recruitment. The firm cultivates relationships through more than 50 in-person events per year in London and maintains a curated database of the top 5% of London finance talent. The Signal programme applies a proprietary linguistic-analysis framework developed by a Cambridge-trained linguist with fifteen years in the CFO community, examining how leaders communicate (hedging language, certainty shifts, temporal framing) to surface insights unavailable through standard survey methodologies.

Refreshing's go-to-market is sales-led and community-led in parallel: direct senior-specialist outreach for recruitment and subscription sales, supported by a referral-based invitation-only panel. The company serves enterprise clients across diversified verticals, including Kaplan International, IMO, WildBrain, Malachite Group, PIP, and SXSW. The firm is headquartered in London, operates exclusively in the UK market, has no disclosed external funding, and is founder-owned with no parent-subsidiary relationships.

Name

Refreshing

Legal name

Refreshing

Website

https://refreshing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Refreshing is a London-based senior finance recruitment firm founded in 2013, placing CFOs, FDs, and FP&A leaders at £60k–£250k for major brands and start-ups, with a subscription retained-partnership model and a 200-member CFO Signal peer-intelligence community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search & Financial Recruitment Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive & Leadership Direct Hire (BPACAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

Keywords

• Senior finance recruitment
• Executive search services
• Finance talent consulting
• Retained recruitment partnership
• CFO peer intelligence

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Retained Partnership / Subscription: Monthly subscription model providing ongoing retention support and on-demand recruitment. One predictable monthly cost covers proactive retention analysis, benchmarking, CV analysis, market intelligence, and fast recruitment when needed. For less than one traditional placement fee, clients receive 12 months of retained support.
2. Contingency Recruitment (Traditional Placement): Traditional contingency-based recruitment placing finance professionals at salary ranges from £60k to £250k base. One-off placement fees are charged upon successful hire, with typical executive search rates applied.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Refreshing is a London-based senior finance recruitment firm placing candidates in CFO, FD, FP&A and other senior finance roles at £60k-£250k base salaries, primarily for major brands and fast-growth start-up businesses. The firm also offers a monthly Retained Partnership subscription combining on-demand recruitment with proactive talent retention and market intelligence, and runs Signal, an invitation-only quarterly peer intelligence programme for 200 senior finance leaders.

Product overview

Refreshing is a financial recruitment firm offering three distinct service lines: Senior Finance (core recruitment for senior finance roles at £60k-£250k base salaries), the Retained Partnership Subscription (a monthly subscription model combining on-demand recruitment with proactive talent retention and market intelligence), and Signal (an invitation-only quarterly peer intelligence programme for senior finance leaders). The products operate as complementary services within the same recruitment consultancy rather than a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Signal: An invitation-only intelligence programme for senior finance leaders providing quarterly peer signal reports, monthly pulse notes, and networking events for CFOs

Products and services

• Senior Finance Recruitment Contingency and retained executive search placing senior finance professionals (CFO, FD, FP&A) at base salaries of £60k-£250k, targeting major brands and fast-growth start-up businesses in London and the UK.
• Retained Partnership (Monthly Subscription) Monthly subscription providing on-demand recruitment, proactive talent retention support, salary benchmarking, CV analysis, and market intelligence on competitor moves, priced as less than one traditional placement fee for 12 months of retained support.
• Signal (CFO Peer Intelligence Programme) Invitation-only quarterly intelligence programme for 200 senior finance leaders, offering peer signal reports on macro confidence, hiring intention, capital allocation, AI adoption, cost pressure, and decision velocity, plus monthly Pulse notes and networking events. Analysis uses a proprietary linguistic framework.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saved £16,000 in nine weeks using subscription model, with rest of year's recruitment effectively free
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half: Global publicly listed staffing firm with a dedicated finance and accounting practice. Operates broadly across finance recruitment as part of a wider portfolio rather than specialising in senior London finance.
• Hays: FTSE-listed global recruitment firm with a large UK finance and accountancy division. Larger incumbent operating broadly in finance recruitment rather than niche London senior finance.
• Michael Page: Global publicly listed recruiter with a finance and accounting specialisation within a broader multi-sector portfolio. Comparable in placement of senior finance professionals but operates at much larger scale across geographies.

Direct peers

• Morgan McKinley: Specialist financial services and accounting recruitment firm with strong UK and Ireland presence. Directly comparable as a finance-specialist recruiter placing mid-to-senior finance professionals with a similar target salary band.
• Marks Sattin: London-headquartered recruiter focused on finance, accounting, and tax professionals. Highly comparable in niche, geography, and senior finance candidate placement to Refreshing.
• Goodman Masson: UK finance, accounting, and change & transformation recruiter serving commercial and public sectors. Comparable target market, role seniority, and London-centric operating model.
• VMA Group: Specialist UK recruiter for finance, communications, and marketing leadership. Comparable senior finance and CFO placement focus with London-headquartered operations.
• Investigo: UK-based recruitment firm specialising in finance, accounting, tax, and treasury roles. Directly comparable specialist finance recruiter with similar role seniority and London base.
• Cedar Recruitment: London-based recruiter covering finance, change & transformation, and technology. Comparable mid-to-senior finance mandate focus with overlapping client base in London.

Emerging players

• FD Centre: UK provider of part-time and fractional finance directors to SMEs. Adjacent rather than directly competitive, but addresses the same senior finance talent gap by offering an alternative to hiring full-time CFOs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/refreshinggroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Refreshing