Matthew Eley
Managing Director – EMEA
Matthew is the Founder & Managing Director of Elite Search Partners; a global Search-to-Search business based out of London. Matthew partners with global MNCs, PLCs and PE-backed businesses to support with long-term strategic growth; he has spent the last 5 years specialising in Partner, Managing Partner and Board level hiring for Executive Search & Advisory Firms. Matthew has successfully completed more than seventy Searches across four Continents. In addition to ESP, Matthew is the key investor in a sell-side M&A advisory firm based out of Chicago.
Reece Moran
Director – USA
Reece is one of the founding consultants and is a Director at ESP. He has spent the last 3 years recruiting Partner and Managing Partner talent into Executive Search and Advisory firms. Reece built the North American market for ESP and currently heads up the Americas, but he has also completed searches internationally. He has successfully completed more than 30 searches and prior to recruitment, Reece spent time in sales across the UK.
Charlotte Crewe
Office Manager & Head of Research
Charlotte spent almost 2 years specialising in Technology & Digital Recruitment across Europe and the UK, before joining Elite Search Partners as Office Manager & Head of Research. She has transitioned into an operations-focused role to support Elite Search Partners across all internal functions. Charlotte oversees day-to-day office operations, including marketing, CRM management and research projects. Charlotte also has a joint honour degree in Linguistics and Film from the University of Liverpool.
Layla Cole
Head of Client Services
Layla graduated from the University of Reading with a 1st Class Joint Honours degree and started at Elite Search Partners as a Researcher before becoming our Head of Europe, where she grew an extensive European network, especially across the DACH region. Now, Layla is the Head of Client Services, focused on outreach, lead generation and streamlining sales whilst ensuring high-quality service for our clients globally.
Jake Richardson
Senior Consultant – APAC
Jake has spent the last 3 years specialising in Partner hiring for Executive Search & Advisory Firms, having previously assisted growth within the mid-market practice at Higher Group before joining the S2S team. After a stint running his own practice Jake joined ESP in early 2024, personally specialising in Partner and Managing Director hires across APAC. Jake has successfully completed searches across 5 Continents and has a degree in Journalism from Sheffield Hallam University.
Alex Lavender
Consultant – USA
Alex specialises in Partner hiring for Executive Search & Advisory firms. Alex operates across industry verticals but focuses largely on the North American markets. Prior to his career in Executive Search, Alex ran multiple successful e-commerce stores primarily focused on consumer goods, selling thousands of units to consumers in the US. Alex also holds both a 1st Class Honours and a master’s degree with Merit in International Relations.
Mica Burke
Consultant – EMEA
Mica specialises in placing Partner and Managing Partner level talent into search firms across the EMEA. Prior to joining ESP, she gained experience working in both legal and graduate sales recruitment, giving her extensive knowledge of a range of markets. Whilst working in Legal Recruitment, Mica worked with a range of London-based Legal 500 firms, placing talent up to Partners’ level within the Litigation practice. Mica has a joint honours degree from Nottingham Trent University.
Alice Scott
Consultant – UK
Alice is a skilled Consultant, based on our UK desk, bringing with her a wealth of experience in recruitment across multiple regions, including the UK, US, and Dubai. With a solid background spanning over 2 years, she has honed her expertise in Graduate, Experienced, and Relocation recruitment. Her in-depth knowledge of these areas enables her to successfully match top talent with leading companies across various sectors.
Mohanad Elkhouly
Consultant – MENA
Mohanad is a Consultant, working on our MENA desk. Prior to joining Elite, Mohanad graduated from The University of Manchester with a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics and International Relations. Having spent 8 years living in Iraq, Mo has a wide understanding of Middle Eastern culture and values, as well as being fluent in Arabic.
