UK insurance and banking recruitment

Insurance and banking recruitment, from someone who gets it.

Executive search and specialist underwriting recruitment across insurance and banking—grounded in first-hand experience from advice, product and the frontline.

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Insurance and banking20+ years in financial servicesSolo recruiter · trusted agency network

“Born in the industry.”

Chris Garfield, founder of Garfield Stephens

Chris Garfield20+ years inside financial services

Three areas. One specialist network.

Focused where experience matters.

01Senior & niche

Executive Search

Targeted UK searches for senior leaders and hard-to-find specialists across insurance, banking and wider financial services.

Explore Executive Search

02Protection · life · health

Medical Underwriting

Medical underwriters, senior assessors and leaders across protection, life, health and wider insurance markets.

Explore Medical Underwriting

03Residential & BTL

Credit Underwriting

Credit underwriters primarily for residential mortgage and buy-to-let lenders, with selected coverage across specialist lending.

Explore Credit Underwriting

Born in the industry.
Recruit for the industry.

Why Garfield Stephens

The context is already understood.

Chris brings more than 20 years of experience across financial advice, protection and insurance products, retail banking and SME banking.

Garfield Stephens has traded for more than 11 years, with Chris still active as a broker and introducer. That first-hand context supports executive appointments, medical underwriting, and residential and buy-to-let credit searches—with selective coverage of specialist lending.

Solo recruiter · trusted partners

Personal service. Wider reach.

Every brief is handled personally by Chris. Trusted agency partnerships extend candidate coverage and market reach when required, while accountability stays direct.

20+years working inside financial services

11+years trading as Garfield Stephens

Client types

Who Garfield Stephens works with

Insurance & protection providersLife, health and protection businesses

Banks & mortgage lendersRetail, SME, residential and buy-to-let markets

Advice & distribution firmsFinancial advisers, brokers and introducers

See what else Chris is building

The approach

Specialist search, without the theatre.

Direct, well-researched and grounded in the realities of insurance and banking markets.

Understand the real brief

What the role needs to achieve, where it sits commercially and what “good” really looks like.

Map the right market

A focused search built around relevant organisations, adjacent talent and credible motivation.

Keep it straight

Clear feedback, honest market intelligence and direct access throughout the assignment.

Start a conversation

Have a role, a remit or a question?

Whether building an insurance team, handling an executive search, hiring banking credit talent or considering a career move, start a conversation with Chris.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn