Your first UK
sales hire
Recruiting the first salesperson in a new market is a different job from adding one to an established team. Kingman Lennox does both, and treats them differently.
Kingman Lennox is a specialist sales recruitment and headhunting firm for ambitious SMEs and growth businesses, from founder-led UK companies to international businesses recruiting sales in the UK for the first time. We recruit for mid to senior sales and business development roles, UK-wide from London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee.
Why a first UK hire is different
A different hire
A salesperson joining an established UK business inherits a great deal without noticing it: a brand that opens doors, enquiries that arrive on their own, reference customers, colleagues to compare notes with and a manager who knows the market. The first hire in a new market has none of that. Many strong performers have never sold without at least one of those supports, and it rarely shows on a CV.
Our guide to making a first sales hire work, Scaling Beyond Founder-Led Sales, sets out the questions to settle before you recruit.
More senior than it looks
The first person in is building a market, not working a territory. They choose the first targets, carry your credibility with UK buyers on their own, and lay the ground for the people who come after them. Paying the salary of a territory rep and expecting the results of a country manager is one of the most common ways these appointments fail.
Evidence that misleads
Growth figures often include renewals, inbound demand and the pull of a recognised name. What matters for a first hire is what the candidate personally originated, how they won it and whether they can repeat it somewhere nobody has heard of you yet.
Interviews built to separate the two
Interviews tend to reward the ability to present well, which is not the same ability as winning new business in a cold market. A polished average performer can interview better than an unpolished excellent one. Our interviews are built to separate the two.
How Kingman Lennox runs a first‑hire search
Starting with your leadership
We work closely with your leadership team to understand what the business needs from the role, and from the person in it.
The market mapped first
Before approaching anyone we map the market: the UK companies where the right person is likely to be working now, and what it would take to move them.
Interviewed by people who have sold
Candidates are interviewed by people who have sold for a living, against the specific demands of building your market rather than a generic competency list.
A shortlist, not a long list
You see a shortlist of people who can do the job, not a long list of people who applied.
With you into the first months
We stay involved through the offer, the notice period and the first months in post.
Fixed fee, guaranteed
Every 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. If the person leaves or is let go within twelve months, we rerun the search at no additional fee.
Companies we have done this for
Recent first-UK-hire and UK team-building assignments have come from the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and the Czech Republic, in healthcare technology, mobility, workplace technology and manufacturing.
Questions companies entering the UK ask us
The questions we hear most from founders and chief executives making their first UK appointment. If yours is not here, it is usually the first thing we cover on a discovery call.
What should we pay a first UK sales hire?
It depends on how senior the person needs to be, and for a first hire that is usually more senior than expected. As a guide, base salaries for Sales Directors in the UK range widely, from around £40k in small businesses to well over £110k in larger ones, with a median somewhere between £70k and £95k depending on the survey, and London pays roughly a sixth more than the national average. A senior first hire for an SME entering the UK typically sits in the £60k to £100k base range, with on-target earnings well above that. We benchmark every role against the current market before the search starts.
Does the person need to be based in London?
Not necessarily. The right base depends on where your customers and prospects are, and how often the role needs to be in front of them. London salaries are the highest in the UK, so a candidate based elsewhere can cost less, and looking beyond London widens the pool of people who can do the job. We agree the geography with you before the search starts, because it shapes where we look.
Can we employ someone in the UK without a UK company?
Yes. One route is an employer of record: a UK company that employs the person on your behalf and handles the contract, payroll and tax, while they work for you day to day. Alternatively, HMRC allows an employer with no UK presence to register and run UK payroll itself, or you can set up a UK subsidiary from the outset. Your accountant can advise on which suits your plans. The choice does not change how the search is run, and we are happy to talk it through on a discovery call.
How long before the person can start?
Usually the notice period decides it. Notice periods in the UK tend to rise with seniority: one or three months is common, and senior managers can be on six. The people you most want are usually in work already, so we build their notice period into the plan from the start. A search typically reaches an accepted offer within four to six weeks, and we stay in touch with the person through their notice so they arrive ready to go.
Should our first hire be a salesperson or a country manager?
It depends on what the first year needs to deliver. If the priority is winning customers, a senior salesperson with a genuine record of opening new markets is often the right first hire. If the person will also need to set up the UK operation, manage partners and later build a team, you need that range from the start, whatever the title on the contract. Either way, the first hire is usually more senior than it looks. We work through this with you before the search begins, because it shapes the whole brief.
How does Kingman Lennox charge?
Every search is on a fixed fee, agreed with you before it starts, so the cost is clear before any work begins. A fixed fee removes any incentive to steer candidates towards the top of the salary range. Every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee: if the person leaves or is let go within that time, we rerun the search at no additional fee. We confirm the fee once we understand the role, usually after a discovery call.
Planning your first UK sales hire?
Start a confidential conversation about building your UK sales team.