What separates the best agencies from the rest, and how to work out which one fits the role you are actually hiring for.
There are dozens of PA recruitment agencies in London, and from the outside most describe themselves the same way. The real differences sit in who the agency can reach, how it takes the brief, and how thoroughly it checks candidates. Choosing the wrong type of agency for the role is one of the most common reasons a PA search drags on or produces a shortlist that misses.
We place Personal Assistants for principals, executives, family offices and private households in London, the UK and internationally. This is how we would advise anyone to assess a PA recruitment agency, including us.
What the best PA recruitment agencies actually do differently
Four things separate them, none of them visible on a homepage.
They reach candidates who are not applying anywhere. The strongest PAs are employed, settled, and move only for the right opportunity. An agency’s real value is the depth of its candidate relationships, built over years, and its ability to approach the right people discreetly. An agency that mostly re-advertises your role on job boards is doing something you could do yourself.
They shape the brief before searching. A good agency will push back on a vague brief and work out the scope, hours, boundaries and decision rights before presenting anyone: who sets priorities, what the PA can approve, what escalates. In our experience the brief that reaches us is rarely the brief we search on. Roles described as straightforward corporate PA positions regularly turn out to include household coordination or family logistics once properly discussed. If an agency takes a one-paragraph job description and promises a shortlist by Friday, the shortlist will reflect the brief.
They vet properly. In-depth interviews and reference checks as standard, with security and reputation screening tailored to the role, agreed at briefing and carried out at the point the role requires. The depth of vetting is one of the clearest dividing lines between agencies, and it is reasonable to ask any agency to walk you through exactly what their process covers.
They know what the market actually pays. Salary intelligence from live placements rather than job-board averages. This matters in both directions: overpaying wastes money, and underpitching loses the strongest candidates before you meet them.
Corporate and private PA recruitment are different specialisms
The most useful question when choosing an agency is whether the role is corporate, private, or a blend, because agencies have different centres of gravity.
Some specialise in corporate PA and Executive Assistant recruitment: placements into businesses, supporting executives and leadership teams, where the brief centres on stakeholder management and business support. Others specialise in private placements: PAs for principals, family offices and UHNW households, where the brief includes household coordination, travel, family logistics and a level of discretion that corporate roles rarely demand.
An agency that is excellent at one is not automatically strong at the other. The candidate networks are different, the vetting requirements are different, and the brief needs taking differently. For blended roles, which many principals need, look for an agency that genuinely works across both rather than one that treats the private element as an add-on.
If you are still deciding which role you need, our guide to Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff works through the differences.
Finding an experienced PA for a London household
An experienced PA for a London household is usually found through a specialist agency with an established network of candidates who already hold private household and UHNW experience. That is a small pool, rarely on the open market, and typically placed through agencies the candidates already know.
Ask a prospective agency how many private household PA placements they have made in the past year, whether background and reputation screening is available as standard, and how they protect the principal’s identity during the search. The answers separate specialists from generalists quickly.
What a PA costs in London
As a guide from our current placements, an experienced Private PA in London typically earns £60,000 to £100,000 or more, and a Junior PA £45,000 to £55,000. Scope moves the figure considerably: travel, extended hours, languages and household responsibilities all push packages upward.
Where travel is constant or the PA is on the road most weeks, salaries sit at the top of the range or above, with travel days treated as working time. If the role involves regular evenings or events, agree overtime or time off in lieu in writing before the search begins rather than after the first month. Full current ranges, including Executive Assistant salaries, are on our Hire a Personal Assistant and Hire an Executive Assistant pages.
Treat an agency’s salary advice as a signal in itself. Advice that sits noticeably below the wider market, without a convincing explanation, is worth questioning.
Questions to ask before committing to an agency
You can usually tell within the first proper briefing whether an agency understands the assignment or is simply keen to win the vacancy. Worth asking:
- How will you take the brief, and who writes the job specification?
- Where do your candidates come from, and how many on a typical shortlist were not actively looking?
- What are your fees, and what replacement terms apply if the placement does not work out?
- Who runs the search after the brief is agreed, the person I am speaking to or a resourcing team?
The last one matters more than it seems. Neither model is automatically wrong, but you should know which you are getting.
Red flags worth taking seriously
A carefully matched shortlist guaranteed before the brief has been properly discussed. CVs sent speculatively before terms are agreed. Reluctance to explain the vetting process in specifics. Pressure to decide quickly on a candidate.
Common questions
How do PA recruitment agencies charge?
Most London agencies charge a percentage of the first year’s salary for permanent placements, with terms and replacement guarantees varying between agencies. Ask for both in writing before the search begins.
Should I use more than one PA recruitment agency?
Multiple agencies widen reach, but they fragment how the role is presented to candidates and can signal a scattergun search. For senior and private roles, one well-briefed specialist usually produces a stronger shortlist than three agencies working the same vacancy. Expect an agency to ask you which it is at the briefing stage, since it changes how the search is run.
What checks should be completed before hiring a private PA?
In-depth interviews, verified references and identity checks as a minimum. For UHNW and high-profile households, background and reputation screening tailored to the role.
How do I write the brief before approaching an agency?
Our guide to writing a Personal Assistant brief covers the scope, hours and boundaries to settle first.
Choosing a PA recruitment agency, with 19 London in mind
We would suggest judging us by the same standards. 19 London places Personal Assistants and Executive Assistants across corporate, private and blended roles in London, the UK and internationally. We write the brief as part of the service, every candidate we introduce is interviewed and reference-checked, and security and reputation screening is tailored to the role.
If you are weighing up PA recruitment agencies for a role in London, the UK or internationally, contact 19 London. Our PA & Corporate division will respond promptly.