What Starfish has built

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Starfish is a brilliant business, and one that we’re proud to partner with.

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Since it launched in 2019, Juliet Taylor and her team have built one of the best-known names in public sector and not-for-profit search. Starfish now has 40 people working across offices in Leeds and London. It’s made more than 1,950 senior leadership appointments for organisations including Co-op Group, John Lewis Partnership Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Manchester and Birmingham City Councils, Saatchi Gallery, British Red Cross, The Health Foundation, British Chambers of Commerce and Charities Aid Foundation.

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Its interim team has placed 420 leaders and was voted a Platinum provider in the 2026 Institute of Interim Management survey.

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In short – Starfish is living proof of what’s possible when search firms get things right.

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Why we've invested again

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Some investors spread small amounts across lots of businesses and hope one or two do well. We work the other way round. We back a small number of founder-led businesses with patient capital and stay involved for the long term. And when we're convinced by a business and the people running it, we're happy to back it again.

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We know Starfish well. We've been there through strong years and tougher markets, and we've seen how Juliet and the team respond to both. That made this an easy decision, and it's the kind of investment we want to keep making. Our new investment will back the next phase of growth for Starfish, which delivers executive search services for civil society and public sector organisations, and purpose-driven businesses.

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Juliet said: “Jigsaw has been part of Starfish from day one and Graham’s input as chair has been an invaluable asset in building the business to the size it is today. The new investment gives us the backing and perspective we need to grow even further while investigating expansion into new areas.”

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Our broadening partnership

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This newest investment is about giving Starfish more resource and bandwidth, and a broader set of perspectives, to keep doing what it does best: delivering excellence in executive search, interim talent and board practice.

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Michael’s move to join the board as a non-executive director offers Starfish additional strategic and commercial experience, while Graham continues to support as chair.

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Day-to-day, Juliet and her team will continue to run the business as normal, bringing their combined years of experience to a wealth of clients and helping them find the right leaders to navigate change.

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Two businesses, one approach

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Starfish is one of two businesses backed by Jigsaw. The other – Praeva Partners – was co-founded with our team in 2025. Also an executive search firm, Praeva works with high-growth, privately owned businesses, helping them build their leadership teams, starting with discovery and assessment.

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Two very different businesses, sharing one common theme: founders we trust and investors who stay involved.

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If you run a founder-led business and want a long-term partner to help it grow, we'd like to hear from you.

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