Private Office Services for Millionaires, Billionaires and Global Family Offices
People, Governance and Independent Coordination of Global Private Wealth Infrastructure
Very Important Personnel is an international private recruitment and advisory agency supporting millionaires, billionaires, entrepreneurs, investment families and Single Family Offices throughout the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the world. We appoint trusted professionals, reinforce established teams and create reliable systems for managing complex private infrastructure.
We become involved when conventional executive search or a collection of disconnected providers is no longer sufficient: appointing a Head of Family Office, building an international private household team, independently reviewing an existing structure, replacing a critical employee, coordinating residences across London, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Monaco and Milan, preparing a superyacht for the Mediterranean season or delivering a discreet multidisciplinary mandate.
Through our integrated ecosystem with Catamaran Family Office, our recruitment expertise is complemented by family office advisory, operational and financial coordination, independent analysis of proposed solutions and access to specialist professionals. This framework can work alongside established institutions such as HSBC Global Private Banking, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, Lombard Odier, LGT Private Banking and Cazenove Capital without promoting any provider’s products.
We can create the required structure from the ground up or discreetly strengthen an existing private office without displacing trusted employees, advisers or longstanding professional relationships.
When Independent Private Office Expertise Creates Value
Families engage us when they require a professional for a position of exceptional trust; an established Family Office needs an independent second opinion; essential knowledge is concentrated with one employee; there is no consolidated view of assets, private expenditure and liabilities; advisers work in isolation; multiple residences, aircraft, yachts or collections require professional coordination; or the family is preparing for succession, a liquidity event, relocation or another significant transition.
We also act upon instruction from a trusted adviser, private banker, solicitor, fiduciary, Head of Family Office or the principal’s representative when confidential expertise is required beyond the capacity of the permanent team. Our work complements, rather than duplicates, relationships with firms such as Coutts, Brown Shipley, C. Hoare & Co., Berenberg and Union Bancaire Privée.
Four Areas of Expertise
Executive Search and Private Household Recruitment
We recruit Heads of Family Office, Chiefs of Staff, Chief Investment Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Investment Directors, private-market analysts, financial controllers, in-house counsel, compliance professionals, executive and personal assistants, travel coordinators, lifestyle managers and other trusted private-office specialists.
For private residences and internationally mobile families, we recruit estate and household managers, butlers, service staff, nannies, governesses, tutors, private chefs, chauffeurs, close-protection personnel, wardrobe specialists, housekeepers, technical staff and superyacht crew.
Our assessment reaches beyond credentials from leading banks, investment firms or luxury hospitality brands such as Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons. We evaluate reputation, integrity, maturity, discretion, leadership style, understated service and compatibility with the family’s values and private culture.
Private Infrastructure
We help organise principal residences, country estates, villas, chalets, pied-à-terre properties, household teams and related operating processes. Our work may include designing staffing structures, clarifying responsibilities, training teams, establishing service standards, implementing reporting systems, monitoring private expenditure, supervising contractors and preserving continuity across critical functions.
Our objective is to make the family’s private infrastructure secure, discreet and predictable so that family members can concentrate on business ownership, investment, philanthropy and succession rather than day-to-day operational issues.
Family Office Advisory
Together with Catamaran Family Office, we help establish private offices, independently assess existing structures, clarify roles and delegated authority, reduce key-person dependency, implement management reporting and coordinate external specialists across the UK, Europe and established international wealth centres.
Where a Family Office is already established, we can serve as an independent additional resource: conducting a comprehensive review, supporting the Chief Investment Officer or Chief Financial Officer, assessing custodians and providers, reviewing a specific decision or delivering a specialist project that does not justify permanent team expansion.
Matters requiring regulated legal, tax, fiduciary, investment or other professional expertise are referred to appropriately qualified specialists and coordinated within the agreed mandate, with due regard to applicable UK, EU, Swiss and international requirements. Research and data from Preqin, Morningstar and Refinitiv may inform relevant provider or investment reviews where appropriate.
Special Assets and International Mobility
We support mandates involving superyachts, business aviation, significant property portfolios, international personnel and family relocation. We coordinate project participants, schedules, documentation, budgets, service delivery and communication with specialist advisers.
For yacht owners, our services include crew recruitment, operational audits, Mediterranean and Caribbean seasonal preparation, financial coordination and transaction support through specialist brokers, maritime lawyers, surveyors, insurers and technical providers. Relevant participants may include firms from the Burgess, Fraser, Camper & Nicholsons and Lloyd’s Register ecosystems, subject to the owner’s requirements.
For relocations between the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Singapore and other global centres, we help align staffing, residences, children’s education, private support and the work of external immigration, tax, legal and banking advisers within one coordinated process.
If the Family Already Has a Family Office and Trusted Advisers
Most clients are not starting from the beginning. They already have a Head of Family Office, investment professionals, private bankers, solicitors, tax advisers, trustees, property managers and personal assistants.
We do not seek to replace this infrastructure. Our role may be targeted and precisely defined: finding a rare specialist, conducting an independent assessment, testing operational resilience, preparing succession for a key employee, addressing a temporary capability gap or coordinating a specific international project.
The mandate, information access and engagement boundaries are agreed in advance. This allows us to reinforce the existing team while preserving its authority, institutional knowledge, management continuity and the family’s established framework of trust.
Independent Assessment
An independent assessment is most valuable before a problem becomes a crisis. It determines how well the family is protected against the departure of a key employee, the loss of institutional knowledge, uncontrolled document access, opaque expenditure, provider conflicts and excessive dependency on one bank, investment manager, trustee or adviser.
We assess organisational structure, responsibilities, delegated authority, decision-making, payment controls, management reporting, document custody, provider engagement, backup arrangements and the quality of communication with the principal.
The outcome is a confidential management memorandum identifying priorities, vulnerabilities and a practical improvement plan. The assessment does not automatically require replacing the team or transferring functions to our ecosystem.
How the Mandate Works
Confidential Briefing
We define the objective, participants, information boundaries, success criteria and communication arrangements with the principal or an authorised representative.
Assessment and Solution Design
We analyse the existing system, identify dependencies and design the most streamlined workable framework without introducing unnecessary participants or management layers.
Team Selection and Coordination
We engage internal and external specialists only within the approved mandate. Every participant’s role, responsibilities, schedule and information access are clearly documented.
Implementation and Oversight
The client receives an agreed reporting format, oversight of material decisions and the option either to conclude the project once the intended result has been achieved or transition to continuing support.
Confidentiality by Design, Not Merely by Contract
Managing private infrastructure requires operational rather than purely declarative confidentiality. We apply the need-to-know principle, separate information flows, restrict identifying data and agree in advance how external specialists will be engaged.
Depending on the mandate, we use non-disclosure agreements, secure communication channels, restricted-access data rooms, role-based permissions and specific protocols for storing and transferring documents.
Very Important Personnel and Catamaran Family Office receive access only to the information necessary to perform their respective responsibilities.
Why International Families Recommend Us
Clients engage us not for the largest possible catalogue of services, but for our ability to assemble the right people around a complex objective, protect confidentiality and deliver a practical, functioning solution.
We understand the distinctions between private residence operations, executive search, specialist recruitment, Family Office management and professional capital coordination. This enables us to preserve clear accountability while maintaining a complete view of the family’s interests.
Instead of an indiscriminate stream of CVs or financial products, the principal receives a carefully selected group of relevant professionals, a defined mandate, controlled communication and a solution integrated into the existing infrastructure. This standard is appropriate for internationally recognised entrepreneurs, private investors and families whose business achievements may be followed by Forbes, the Financial Times, Fortune or the Wall Street Journal.
Discuss a Confidential Private Office Matter
You may contact us directly or through your Head of Family Office, trusted adviser, solicitor, private banker, personal assistant or another authorised representative.
During the initial consultation, we will determine whether you require a key-person search, an independent assessment, reinforcement of the established team, support for a special asset or project-based international coordination.