Praeva Partners Opens to Serve Privately-Owned Businesses
December 5, 2025 – A new specialist investment backed executive search firm Praeva Partners recently launched in the U.K. Spearheaded by former Drax chief executive Mark Sherman, Praeva Partners aims to work alongside rapid-growth privately owned businesses in the U.K. and Europe to strengthen their senior leadership teams. Praeva Partners operates across the U.K. and Europe and is based out of London. In addition, Praeva Partners has secured the backing of specialist recruitment investors Jigsaw Equity.
“Praeva Partners takes a new approach to executive search, aiming to become the search partner of choice for ambitious businesses in the U.K. and Europe,” said Mr. Sherman, who serves as CEO of the firm. “I’ve got huge aspirations for this company. Praeva will shake off the weights that so often accompany executive search firms and tackle our brief with vigor and passion.”
Graham Goodwin joins Praeva Partners as chairman, while Michael Goodwin takes on the role of financial director. Jigsaw Equity associate advisor, John Toppin, also joins the new firm as chief operating officer.
“We want to bring the best consultants and partners on board so that we can deliver the highest quality of work and we’ll reward our teams with a fresh incentive model to connect the impact we have for our customers and candidates to our colleagues,” Mr. Sherman added. “Their expertise will be augmented by technology – as a tech-first search firm we are focused on using AI and other systems to streamline the candidate and client experience and to enable our people to spend time where they have the most impact. We will focus unrelentingly on delivering excellence.”
“Executive search plays an incredibly important role in supporting the success of businesses in the U.K. and Europe,” Mr. Sherman added. “Market conditions are tough – the economy is challenging and competition is fierce, so it’s never been more important to have the right leadership team in place. Praeva Partners will strive to deliver on this mandate, acting as a consultative partner to clients and candidates alike, better understanding how the entire leadership structure works in harmony to drive growth.”
“Mark has built an incredible business proposition in Praeva,” said Graham Goodwin, co-founder of Jigsaw Equity. “His experience and connections make him a formidable force in executive search and I’ve every confidence in his high ambitions for Praeva Partners. Jigsaw Equity is delighted to be working alongside Mark to develop Praeva and make it into the success we all know it can be.”
Mr. Sherman previously led the Drax Executive team in the U.K. for the last two years and prior to that headed up its consumer and leisure sectors, supporting their growth through to a successful minority investment by private equity.
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A specialist recruitment investment company, Jigsaw Equity works alongside launching and growing recruitment firms to offer investment and advice. Operated by Mr. Goodwin – who founded executive search firm Gatenby Sanderson in 2002, growing it to a £40 million business before achieving an eight-figure exit in 2014 – and son Michael, an M&A advisor, the company seeks out driven recruitment ventures and helps them grow.
The Wave of Change Coming
“Technology is transforming the talent landscape at a pace the executive search industry has never experienced,” said Mr. Sherman. “AI, automation and new data tools are reshaping how insight is gathered, how candidates are engaged and how leadership decisions are made. Yet for many established firms, embedding this shift is incredibly hard – it demands a level of cultural change, re-training and openness to new ways of working that traditional structures often resist.”
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“Praeva has a unique advantage: we can build our model brick by brick, designing the systems, workflows and mindset we want from day one,” he said. “Our aim is to create an efficient, tech-enabled team that spends less time on administration and far more time on the high-value conversations, judgement and relationships that truly drive outcomes.”
“But technology is only part of the story,” Mr. Sherman continued. “At Praeva, we believe the future belongs to firms that focus on their people – colleagues and customers alike. By removing unnecessary friction, giving our team the tools to thrive and investing heavily in their development, we create an environment where consultants can do their best work and genuinely enjoy their roles. That focus on capability, culture and care ultimately delivers better results, not just higher revenues. Our ambition is simple: to build a search firm that grows because its people grow, and to set a new standard for what a modern talent partner should be.”
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
