The Firm
Board-Level Leadership Advisory in Industrial Manufacturing & Engineering
Carl Baxter
Managing Partner & Founder
Carl advises Boards and senior HR leaders on business-critical leadership appointments within industrial manufacturing and engineering. His work focuses on Managing Director, COO and General Management roles where performance, continuity and organisational confidence are at stake.
He is known for a calm, discreet and evidence-led approach, clarifying mandate, aligning stakeholders and providing decision support throughout confidential leadership appointments.
Based in London, Carl leads partner-level delivery across Europe, North America and the Middle East
Roland Parry
Head of Market Intelligence
Roland leads Hamilton Finch’s market intelligence function, supporting confidential leadership mandates through targeted mapping, insight gathering and calibrated market engagement.
His work provides Boards and senior HR leaders with real-time intelligence on leadership availability, motivation and context, strengthening decision-making without unnecessary market noise.
Based in the UK, Roland supports partner-led delivery across Europe, North America and the Middle East.
How We Work
Our work is non-transactional and partner-led. We engage on a sole and confidential basis where leadership decisions carry material risk.
Finch+ underpins how we advise clients, combining mandate clarity, confidential market intelligence and senior decision support throughout the appointment process.
We operate exclusively within industrial manufacturing and engineering, where operational complexity and international scale demand judgement, discretion and absolute clarity of mandate.
Hamilton Finch is a partner-led advisory firm supporting Boards and senior HR leaders through enterprise-level leadership decisions. Our partners combine strategic insight with disciplined judgement and discretion.
Hamilton Finch advises Boards and senior HR leaders on enterprise-level leadership appointments where the cost of getting it wrong is high.
We operate exclusively within industrial manufacturing and engineering, supporting Managing Director, COO and General Management leadership decisions across Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Our work is sole, confidential and partner-led, built around mandate clarity, risk reduction and discreet market intelligence.
Years in Perspective
Our evolution reflects a deliberate shift from role-led activity to enterprise-level leadership advisory, shaped by the realities of complex industrial organisations.
2011
Foundations in Industrial Leadership Appointments
Hamilton Finch’s origins lie in senior leadership appointments across industrial manufacturing and engineering environments. Early work focused on commercially and operationally critical roles within complex, capital-intensive organisations, establishing a grounding in leadership decisions where execution and continuity matter.
2015
Trusted Delivery on Sensitive Leadership Transitions
As the firm matured, Hamilton Finch became increasingly engaged on confidential and sensitive leadership transitions, including succession planning, under-the-radar replacements and performance-led leadership change. This period reinforced the importance of discretion, mandate clarity and stakeholder alignment.
2023
Deepening Focus on Enterprise Leadership Risk
The firm sharpened its focus on Managing Director, COO and General Management appointments, where leadership misalignment carries material operational and strategic risk. Advisory work during this period centred on mandate definition, leadership assessment and decision support for Boards and senior HR leaders.
2025
Finch+ formalised as advisory + market intelligence framework; partner-led model
Finch+ was formalised to underpin how Hamilton Finch advises on business-critical leadership decisions. The framework integrates mandate clarity, confidential market intelligence and partner-led execution, supporting Boards through complex leadership appointments with structure, governance and confidence.