Business Development Manager Recruitment for New Business Growth
Kingman Lennox recruits Business Development Managers who open doors, build pipeline from a standing start and win the customers your business has struggled to reach.
- Fixed fee agreed before the search starts
- Shortlist within two weeks
- 12-month replacement guarantee
We help UK businesses appoint Business Development Managers who find, open and win new customers.
A Business Development Manager is hired to create growth that would not otherwise happen. The right appointment opens new markets and new accounts, and builds a pipeline the business can see and plan around. The wrong one spends months on familiar ground, and the gap only shows when the new business fails to arrive.
Every Business Development Manager search we run is built on direct headhunting and evidence-led assessment, so the decision rests on the new business a candidate has personally won rather than how well they interview.
Why Business Development Manager Recruitment Is So Hard to Get Right
The title covers very different jobs. In some businesses a Business Development Manager wins new customers from a standing start; in others they mostly look after existing accounts. CVs reflect that mix, so a strong record under the same title can contain very little new business.
New business results are also hard to read from the outside. Wins can come from inbound enquiries, a well-known brand or a colleague’s introductions. Establishing what a candidate personally created, from the first conversation to the signed order, takes structured questioning and evidence.
The best new business salespeople are usually doing well where they are. Reaching them takes a direct approach and a credible case: the market, the product and the support they would have to win.
We are typically engaged when:
- Almost all growth is coming from existing customers
- The business is entering a new market, sector or region
- A previous hire had the right background but did not bring in new business
- The business needs pipeline quickly, from someone who can work independently
- The right candidate is performing elsewhere and will need to be approached directly
Building business beyond the existing customer base
A specialist engineering supplier had a strong reputation and a dependable group of customers, but almost all its growth came from those same accounts. The Managing Director knew there was a wider market, but nobody had clear responsibility for going after it.
An earlier recruitment exercise had produced plenty of candidates with relevant industry experience. What was harder to establish was how much new business they had personally won. We agreed a more specific brief and approached salespeople working with similar buyers, including some outside the client’s immediate sector. During assessment, we took candidates through individual wins, from the first conversation to the order, to understand how they prospected, dealt with setbacks and kept a lengthy buying process moving.
The person appointed came from an adjacent technical market. They needed time to learn the products, but were comfortable opening conversations and bringing in technical colleagues when needed. They went on to secure customers the business had previously struggled to get in front of.
How We Recruit a Business Development Manager
Every Business Development Manager search starts with the brief. We work closely with your leadership team to define where the new business should come from: the markets and types of customer to target, the size of deal and length of sales cycle, and the support the new hire will have. That becomes the scorecard every candidate is measured against.
We then identify and approach new business salespeople directly, including those who are not looking, and assess them in depth. Because our assessment is led by people who have run sales teams, candidates are taken through their actual wins in detail, not just their targets and titles.
Your shortlist is a small number of candidates who have been properly tested, each with a written assessment. We stay involved through the offer, the resignation and the notice period, so the move is handled carefully on both sides. Read more about how we work.
Prospecting
How they find and open conversations with buyers who were not expecting to hear from them
Personal wins
The deals they created and closed themselves, from first contact to signed order
Persistence
How they kept long buying processes moving, and what they did when deals stalled
Context
The deal sizes, sales cycles and buyers behind their results, and how closely they match yours
Teamwork
How they bring in technical and delivery colleagues to win the business and keep it
Business Development and Sales Roles We Recruit
We recruit across the whole sales team, from the people who win new customers to those who grow established accounts and the leaders who run them.
Winning new business
Salespeople who open new accounts and build pipeline from a standing start.
- Business Development ManagerThis page
- New Business Manager
- Account Executive
Growing key customers
Salespeople who protect and grow the relationships the business depends on.
- Key Account Manager
- Account Manager
- Account Director
Leading sales teams
Leaders who build, coach and run the sales team.
Business Development Manager roles vary widely from one business to the next. Being clear about the customers, markets and deal sizes the role must win is where a successful search begins.
Business Development Manager Recruitment Across B2B Sectors
Our focus is sales rather than one industry, and we recruit Business Development Managers across the UK’s main B2B sectors, including:
SaaS and technology
Financial services and fintech
Professional services
Industrial and engineering
Energy and sustainability
Healthcare and life sciences
Manufacturing and distribution
FMCG and consumer goods
Sector experience can shorten the learning curve, but the ability to open doors and win new customers travels well. A proven new business salesperson from an adjacent market will often outperform a sector insider who has mainly managed existing accounts.
Why Businesses Engage Kingman Lennox for New Business Hires
A new business hire is an investment in growth the business does not yet have. Our role is to make sure it is made on evidence, with a clear view of what the role needs and who can genuinely deliver it. What defines the way we work:
- Specialist focus on sales roles, and nothing else
- Every candidate assessed by people who have run sales teams
- Direct, discreet approaches to salespeople who are not on the market
- Close partnership with your leadership team from brief to start date
- A 12-month replacement guarantee on every placement
- Over 95% of placements still in role after 12 months
Business Development Manager Recruitment: Your Questions Answered
If your question is not answered here, the quickest route is a short, no-obligation discovery call.
How much does Business Development Manager recruitment cost?
Many agencies charge a percentage of the successful candidate’s first-year salary, which rises with the salary agreed. Every Kingman Lennox search is on a fixed fee agreed before it starts. A fixed fee removes any incentive to put forward candidates at the top of the salary range, and it lets us commit properly to the search. Every placement is also backed by a 12-month guarantee.
How long does it take to recruit a Business Development Manager?
A well-run search typically delivers a strong shortlist within two weeks, and most searches reach an accepted offer within four to six weeks. The successful candidate’s notice period then sets the start date, so it is worth building into your plans from the outset.
What should we look for in a Business Development Manager?
Look for new business they have personally won, with the detail to back it up: who the customer was, how the first conversation started, how long it took and what they did when it stalled. Titles and targets say little on their own. We build a scorecard for every search, so each candidate is judged against the customers and markets your role needs to win.
What is the difference between a Business Development Manager and an Account Manager?
A Business Development Manager is mainly responsible for winning new customers, while an Account Manager looks after existing customers and grows the business they do with you. The skills overlap, but the temperament differs: one thrives on opening doors, the other on building long-term relationships. Being clear which you need is the first step in the brief.
Do you recruit Business Development Managers across the UK?
Yes. We run Business Development Manager searches across the UK, covering London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Aberdeen. We also help international businesses make their first UK sales hire.
What happens if the Business Development Manager you place does not work out?
Every placement is backed by a 12-month guarantee, which is considerably longer than the three months most agencies offer. If the person leaves or is let go within twelve months, we rerun the search at no additional fee. In practice this is rarely needed: over 95% of the candidates we place are still in role after twelve months.
Speak to a Business Development Headhunter
If you are planning a Business Development Manager appointment, we would be glad to talk it through. An initial conversation is confidential and without obligation: you describe the role and what has to go right, and we tell you honestly whether and how we can help.