Is it necessary for senior headhunters to have their own drivers?

It's come to our attention that several very senior headhunters either have, or have had, their own drivers. Some allegedly also have their own in-house chefs.

This is by no means normal: we are talking only about very senior individuals who own their own businesses. But still.

The presence of personal drivers and chefs in financial services headhunting is arguably reminiscent of a lost era in which it was comparatively easy to bill 3-4m a year.

"I worked at one firm where the costs were enormous," one (ex) financial services headhunter tells us. "I personally had to bill 750k just to break even."

The head of one recently formed headhunting boutique tells us the rivals with drivers are stuck in the past. "Fees are being squeezed and it's definitely a lot more competitive than it used to be - in every space there are 10-15 more companies than there were a few years ago.

"Most people in this industry work very hard and go quietly home and see their families. Let's not kid ourselves that we're investment bankers," he adds.

However, the head of one search to search firm (who - like everyone else in this article requested not to be named) said the people with drivers should be left to their own devices. "The reality is that they're like any individual who runs a successful boutique business," he points out.