Nick Culley

Business Manager, Executive Search | Accountancy & Finance

For me, the best part of recruitment has never really been recruitment. It's meeting interesting people, hearing their stories, understanding what makes businesses tick and helping people and businesses make important decisions.

For the last 28 years, my recruitment career has provided the opportunity for me to work with individuals at every stage of their careers, from part-qualified accountants taking their early career through to CFOs and CEOs leading some of the region's most successful businesses. Watching those careers develop over time has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. Over the years, many candidates have become clients and many clients have become friends, creating a network built on trust, reputation and long-term relationships.

Known for a straightforward, relationship-led approach, my aim is always to provide honest advice, challenge where needed and make the recruitment process as effective, and enjoyable, as possible.

Whether supporting a growing business with its first finance hire, helping an ambitious Finance Director take the next step towards a CFO role or partnering with an organisation on a critical executive appointment, the focus remains the same: understanding the brief, understanding the people and finding the right long-term fit for both.

At The Weekend You Will Find Me

At the weekend you can find me on a golf course, following Ipswich Town, cooking for family and friends or tackling the next project on an ever-growing new home to-do list. When not doing that, I can sometimes be seen out road cycling around Fenland where the roads are questionable and the headwinds ever present. In between, there's an ongoing campaign to convince my partner that a Miniature Schnauzer would be an excellent addition to our family. Results to date have been mixed.

Get in touch

Hiring across A&F, HR, or Commercial Office? Looking for your next role in the region? Either way,
we’d be glad to hear from you.

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THE ONE GROUP

Where we're from,
and how we got here

Twenty years of specialist recruitment in the East – and a lot of small decisions that added up.

TOG started in Peterborough in 2004 with a small team and a simple idea: that recruitment is a people business, done best by specialists who stay in their sector long enough to know it properly.

More than two decades on, we've grown into four offices across the East of England and Home Counties. We recruit for finance leaders, HR directors, engineering managers, tech founders, scientists, and the commercial teams that keep businesses running day to day. Between us, we've built up over 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of more than 150,000 candidates we've placed, coached, or come to know across two decades in the region.

The founding principle hasn't changed. Recruitment as it should be.

OUR STORY

Key events timeline

2004

Doors open in Peterborough.

Our first office launches with a team of six on Lynch Wood. Cambridge follows the same year, giving us two offices before our first anniversary.

2015

Northampton makes it three.

Our third office opens with a team of five, quickly growing to eleven consultants covering the wider Midlands region.

2017

Peterborough moves across the road.

The team has outgrown the founding office. We move into Arena House on Lynch Wood, big enough for a growing consultant base and the back-office team that supports the whole group.

2018

Cambridge moves too.

Our second office relocates to Cambourne Business Park, giving the growing Cambridge team the space it now needs.

2023

Four offices, three counties, one very good year.

The Hertfordshire & Essex office opens in Potters Bar, extending our footprint into the Home Counties.

In the same year, we're named Business of the Year in Northamptonshire, and Employer of the Year in both Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire at the regional SME Business Awards. Three counties, three panels.

TODAY

Still growing.

Four offices, more than 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of over 150,000 candidates.

Same founding principle.

SPECIALISTS BY DESIGN

What we do

We're specialists, not generalists. Every consultant at TOG focuses on one sector and stays in it. Not because it's the only way to do recruitment, but because it's how you build the depth to spot the difference between a strong CV and a strong hire.

It's also why so many of our clients come back to us years, even decades, after a first placement.

Beyond the recruitment itself, we produce annual salary guides, regional market reports, and the practical resources our clients and candidates turn to when they want a clearer view of what's happening in their sector.

THE WAY WE WORK

How we work

Four principles show up in every conversation and every process.
01

Be curious.

We stay interested in the market we work in, and in the people who work in it.

02

Keep it human.

We remember your kids' names and know how you take your coffee. That's just how we work here.

03

Make a difference.

We're here to help people build careers they love and businesses they're proud of.

04

Enjoy the ride.

Recruitment is a career, but it should be fun too. If it isn't, we've done something wrong.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Recruitment
as it should be.

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