Trusted Leadership Advisors to Global Executives

Building on a foundational career at three top ten international search firms, Chelsea Garrett established Garrett Search Partners in 2003 to provide the executive search market with a more agile, high-touch alternative. The firm is built upon a sophisticated assessment methodology that serves as a consistent operational backbone for mission-critical leadership mandates. This system ensures that every engagement, whether for a Fortune 100 corporation, a mid-market leader, or a private equity-backed portfolio company, is executed with institutional-grade rigor.

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The firm’s expertise is centered on securing high-impact talent across the Automotive, Aerospace, Industrial, and Technology sectors. This track record is defined by a commitment to deep cultural alignment and the development of sustainable leadership pipelines. Recognized for building strategic client partnerships and driving organizational growth, the firm operates under a vision that maintains a "best-in-class" standard for talent optimization across all functional areas.

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Chelsea holds a B.A. from Iowa State University and leads the ongoing evolution of the firm’s search methodologies and global sector expansion.

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Neil Humphreys is a Partner with Garrett Search Partners, bringing extensive experience in retained executive search and human capital consulting. He has built a strong reputation for delivering senior talent globally across industrial, consumer, and technology-driven organizations.

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With earlier career experience in operational and supply chain leadership roles, Neil brings a practitioner-informed perspective to executive search and leadership advisory. He advises a broad client base ranging from mid-sized businesses to Fortune 250 consumer and industrial organizations, supporting leadership decisions tied to growth, transformation, and performance improvement.

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Neil operates extensively across Europe, North America, and the APAC region, with particular strength supporting Swiss-based multinationals and VC-backed, high-technology scale-up organizations. He is known for working closely with clients to understand culture, ambition, and operating model in detail, and for a collaborative approach that is direct, fast-moving, and appropriately challenging. Neil is recognized as an experienced human capital advisor with a strong track record of senior appointments and long-term client partnerships.

Rebecca Hopkinson is a Partner with Garrett Search Partners, bringing deep experience in retained executive search across supply chain, consumer, aviation, and industrial manufacturing environments. Following the completion of a degree in Computer Science, Rebecca began her career in sales, developing a strong commercial foundation with leading global brands. She later joined a FTSE-listed international recruitment firm, where she specialized in engineering and manufacturing talent for regionally based and multinational organizations.

 

After more than a decade of experience delivering senior leadership appointments across automotive, aerospace, and general manufacturing sectors, Rebecca transitioned into retained search. She has since established a strong reputation delivering tailored executive search solutions to a global client base, including Managing Director, Head of PMO, and senior advisory roles within complex, multi-site organizations.

Pauline McGuirk is a Partner with Garrett Search Partners and the Howgate-Sable International Network, bringing extensive experience in retained executive search and leadership advisory across industrial automation, manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, technology, and energy sectors.

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With a professional background spanning manufacturing management, commercial leadership, and purchasing, Pauline brings a pragmatic, operator-informed perspective to executive search. Her experience has enabled her to build a strong international network and develop a deep understanding of the market dynamics, operational complexity, and transformation challenges facing global industrial organizations.

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Pauline specializes in identifying senior leaders who operate at the intersection of manufacturing, automation, and technology. She works closely with clients navigating operational scale, digital transformation, and evolving mobility and energy ecosystems, supporting leadership decisions that drive long-term strategic and operational impact.

Nick is a Partner and the leader of our aviation and transport practice. He represents clients across the entire aviation sector including airlines, airports, ground handlers and other companies in the wider aviation supply chain. In addition to this he also works with clients in the consumer and financial services markets.

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He has over 20 years’ experience in executive hiring and has recruited across the board up to and including non-executive level. He has successfully appointed senior management and executive talent in Europe, America, South east Asia and the Middle East.

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Nick is passionate about his work and takes a hands on approach to all searches he is responsible for. Working with a talented internal research and delivery team, he has a track record of advising businesses in various stages of performance; whether that be growth, transformation or turnaround, to secure the best in class talent in the industry. He is often asked to advise clients on organisation design and role profile development prior to going to market. Nick has a track record of long term client retention and developing them into significant relationships that mean Howgate Sable can add real value to the organisation they represent.

In his earlier career Nick worked for one of the worlds largest retailers in HR and resourcing roles before joining a listed global recruitment firm.

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For more than 25 years, Caroline von Ledebur has been advising CEOs and top management of companies on leadership networks as well as on questions of succession, corporate governance and strategy implementation. She built her own consulting business and advised leaders on networking, relationship building, development and performance. She also works as a certified Coach.

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In the years prior, Caroline was CEO of G100, a membership-only organization which brings together active Chairmen and CEOs from major publicly traded companies in the USA and Europe. G100 provides forums in which Chairmen and CEOs can privately discuss and debate business issues and best practices. Caroline also co-founded and led the CEO Academy and the Chairman Academy, which were sponsored by G100.

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Previously, Caroline was a Principal at Spencer Stuart in the Frankfurt and New York offices and has served as a director on the board of the Jackson Laboratory. 

 

Earlier in her career, Caroline was a consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Munich. She also worked with the Austrian Academy of Sciences consulting for EU research projects and as a researcher at The Rockefeller University in New York.

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Caroline holds a D.Phil. in Molecular Biology from Oxford University and a B.A. in Biology from Smith College in the US. She is co-author of How to Run a Company—Lessons from Top Leaders of the CEO Academy, from Random House, as well as the author of various scientific publications.

Caroline has lived many years in the US as well as in the UK, Germany, Tunisia, The Netherlands and Japan, and has currently settled in Austria. She speaks English, German and French fluently.