Leadership due diligence that safeguards business-critical hiring

Leadership due diligence is an in-depth background check for senior and executive appointments. It confirms the factual record — identity, education, employment, address and criminal history — and then assesses integrity, reputation and potential conflicts of interest. It is designed for roles where the person will hold significant authority, handle sensitive information or represent the organization publicly. The output is a risk-focused summary that a hiring committee or board can act on.

Standard screening answers "is this CV accurate?" Leadership due diligence also answers "what risk does this person bring?" It adds directorship and shareholding checks, civil and criminal litigation records, regulatory action, sanctions and watchlist screening, and adverse media analysis. It also involves more human judgement — an analyst interprets what the records mean in the context of the role, rather than simply marking each item as clear or discrepant.

A typical enhanced scope includes identity verification, education and professional qualification verification, complete employment history, permanent and current address, criminal record and court record search, directorship and company affiliation search, credit and financial profile, regulatory and compliance records, and adverse media. Global sanctions and PEP screening are added for cross-border or regulated appointments. The exact scope is agreed with you before we begin, based on the seniority and sensitivity of the role.

Instant components — identity, statutory identifiers, digital employment records — return in real time. Court record searches, regulatory checks and adverse media analysis are expert-led and typically complete within a defined window agreed at the start of the engagement. Cross-border components depend on the jurisdictions involved. We give you a timeline upfront and keep the case status visible in WeVerify, so your offer schedule does not slip unexpectedly.

Yes. We search civil and criminal court records at the relevant jurisdictions, check company affiliations and directorships against statutory registries, and review regulatory action where records are publicly accessible. We report what the records show and the source, without drawing conclusions we cannot evidence. Where a record is ambiguous or the identity match is uncertain, we say so clearly rather than presenting it as fact.

Most senior candidates are still employed, so discretion is part of the design. Cases are handled by a small named team with role-based access controls in WeVerify, and only the stakeholders you nominate can view the file. We do not contact a current employer without explicit permission. Reference intelligence, where included, is conducted discreetly and only with the candidate's agreement on who may be approached.