Corporate Governance


We help a wide range of clients, including financial institutions and multinational corporations manage their corporate governance recruitment requirements. We have unique insight into the blend of legal and corporate governance within company secretarial and legal teams.

Our clients include FTSE 100 companies, private equity backed portfolio companies and financial services businesses. These clients benefit from our extensive network and highly specialised expertise. Our candidates also benefit from a range of opportunities and advice that is tailored to their experience.

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Seniority Levels:

Group Company Secretary

Deputy Company Secretary

Assistant Company Secretary

Head of Governance & Regulation

Head of Regulatory Affairs

Contact Us

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Matthew Simmons

Managing Director

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Jonathan Cartwright

Partner, Head of Legal Commerce & Industry


Matthew Simmons

Managing Director

Matthew founded Simmons & Hanbury in 2018. He has advised on executive search and legal consultancy services for many global listed corporations over the last two decades. Prior to establishing Simmons & Hanbury, Matthew held various senior leadership positions, including head of legal practice and head of legal consulting practice at other global search firms. Over the course of his career he has developed an extensive network of cross-border candidates and clients within financial services.

Matthew has in-depth expertise within the financial services sector and has successfully completed search assignments for some of the most prestigious financial services firms in the world. This includes banks, investment funds, private equity houses and leading law firms. In addition, he has completed numerous assignments for corporations across a range of industries. He also leads several high-profile general counsel networking events.

Before moving into executive search, Matthew obtained a Master’s degree in Business Management & Marketing at the University of Westminster.


Jonathan Cartwright

Partner, Head of Legal Commerce & Industry

Jonathan joined Simmons & Hanbury in 2021 to lead and grow the commerce and industry practice. He has specialised within in-house legal search for several years, completing numerous retained search assignments for global multinationals, SMEs and UK based businesses. He works with some of the most well-known and recognised brands in the world. Jonathan has also successfully worked with law firms and consultancies in relevant areas such as IP, Technology and Data Protection.

Jonathan is adept at assisting private equity portfolio companies with the placement of their first In-house Counsel, as well as functional Heads of Legal and General Counsel appointments. Jonathan leads General Counsel networking events, partnering with top tier law firms to deliver industry leading content for a variety of in-house legal disciplines. 

Prior to joining Simmons & Hanbury Jonathan was Head of Commerce & Industry for a leading governance search firm and studied English at the University of Birmingham.


I have used Simmons & Hanbury for several legal searches and have been consistently impressed with their professionalism, expertise and knowledge of the market. They are always willing to go the extra mile. Every candidate we have hired through them has been exceptional and I would - and have - recommended them to other firms for their legal searches.

Proprietary Trading Business, Head of Legal

I have worked with Simmons & Hanbury for two senior hires into my team. We offer a range of products and they were brilliant at identifying candidates with the correct breadth of experience. I found Simmons & Hanbury to have a great network with excellent sector knowledge and would definitely use the firm again.

$97 billion debt fund, European General Counsel