A trusted talent partner
As your executive search partner, we’ll help you find the people you need for the future, not just right now.
About Olive SearchWe’ve been a part of the flourishing Bristol and South West business community for 20 years. We’ve placed teams that have helped small businesses become FTSE100s and we’ve advised boardrooms through critical hiring periods.
Meet the OliveSearch* team
Eleanor Barr-Sim
“I’m excited to be working with great entrepreneurial minds that have ambition to grow. I bring an analytical approach, investigating the heart of what’s needed for your business to understand what the right fit looks like.”
Talent Partner
Sharon Alred
“Over the last two decades, I've watched SMEs turn a plan on a page into something extraordinary. What changes everything isn't the plan itself, it's who's in the room to execute it. That's what Olive is here to do: put the best possible leadership team in place, so our clients can get on with building what they set out to build.”
Founder
“It’s always exciting to help growing SMEs access the senior level talent they need to take their next step, while offering a personalised service that feels genuinely connected to the fantastic business community we have here.”
Talent PartnerJulianna Süki
Olive Search Founder, Sharon Alred, has spent close to two decades in recruitment, and nearly as long watching what actually separates SMEs that scale from those that stall.
The answer is rarely the plan. It's the people leading it.
Sharon co-founded Signature Recruitment in 2010. She built it from the ground up and faced the same growing pains she sees her SME clients still confront today: Founder-led chaos, rapid growth, and the pressure to hire senior leaders correctly the first time. Her first-hand experience of running a business through its own scaling curve shapes how she approaches search today.
Olive Search was founded to focus on leadership hiring for SMEs, whether that's a first Head of Department, a newly created Director role, or a top team being rebuilt after investment. Sharon has placed thousands of candidates across her career, with particular depth in FMCG, construction, property and the built environment, professional services, and education.
Beyond search, Sharon founded and runs BOB, a business owner network that has given her a close, ongoing view into what actually keeps founders and MDs up at night, insight that feeds directly into how Olive approaches every leadership brief.
The Olive Search mentality
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Curiosity
Ask questions, interrogate the brief, get to know the people you’re working with. Our curiosity feeds our strategic approach and relationship with you.
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Courage
The best results come when we challenge the thinking and bring new ideas to the discussion, adding value that wasn’t even asked for.
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Ownership
We understand the responsibility that comes with representing your brand. We own that and champion your needs across all of our searches.
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Growth
Raised with a growth mindset, we’re always working to improve, so we remain at the cutting edge of how to help your business scale successfully.
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Excellence
This one’s simple for us - do what you say you will and do it really well.
Let’s collaborate on your search
If you’re an SME in the UK looking to recruit impactful talent at the top level of your business, let’s talk.
Looking for support for with hiring across your business?
Our sister company, Signature Recruitment, have been building teams from the ground up for over two decades. If you’re looking for support with business services hiring - recommended by 98% of clients - Signature are the specialists you need.