About us
When we started Bedford in 1979 there wasn’t much need to inspire leaders to join any company. Even the best executives were excited to have good careers thrust in front of them. Clearly, the world has changed since then. The best leaders don’t just want great jobs. They want to fit into an organization that also fits them. Bedford recognized this trend a decade ago and reinvented the executive search process using proprietary tools that measure leadership capabilities and how they fit into a client’s culture. We pioneered this process with Dr. John Burdett, a world authority on leadership and transformational change, because we recognized that finding a qualified candidate was no longer enough.
Our strategy has proven itself. If Bedford were a public company, we’d be reporting 33 quarters of growth while most of our competitors have retrenched and downsized. We’ve been growing organically and gaining market share because we produce results that minimize risk for our clients and candidates.
Our approach
Finding the best leaders—the “A” players, both nationally and globally—is the core of our executive search business. In today’s much more demanding world, we are having new and different conversations with our clients. Discover more about our approach.
Global Reach
Transearch International is one of the world’s largest international search organizations. Through our membership in this alliance, we have reach, research and databases at our command in 53 offices in 34 countries. Steven Pezim, Bedford's Co-founder and Managing Director, sits on the Transearch International Board and is one of 38 partners devoted to its Global Technology practice. Our Transearch International partners recognized us as the Number One Performing Office in the World in 2004, 2007 and 2008. Find out more about our global reach.
Sector expertise
Bedford has long-standing relationships with many of Canada’s best-managed organizations in a number of specialty fields:
- Consumer Products and Retail
- Legal Services
- Financial Services
- Manufacturing and Supply Chain
- Life Sciences
- Not-for-profit
- Private Equity and Venture Capital
- Real Estate
- Resources, Energy and Infrastructure
- Technology, Media and Telecom
Find out more about our industry expertise.
Our people
Bedford believes that supporting its own people results in better service for our clients. Each of our partners has at least three supporting consultants and individual administrative support. That’s a level of service that some major executive consulting firms cannot match and ensures every short-listed candidate is interviewed by one of our partners.
We are also one of the few executive search firms with an on-staff research team. As a result, we have a database of more than 100,000 candidates across North America. And through our affiliation in Transearch International, we have access to many other company and individual databases throughout the world.
Member of the AESC
The Association of Executive Search Consultants promotes the highest professional standards in retained executive search consulting, broadens public understanding of the executive search process and advocates the interests of its member firms. The U.S. government and the European Commission recognize the AESC as the representative body of the retained executive search industry.
Proudly independent, proudly Canadian
Over the last 10 years, we have repeatedly declined being acquired by our publicly traded U.S. competitors. We believe there’s a conflict of interest in a professional services firm being a public company. Many of our customers agree with us—some in principal and some because they have compared service and performance levels. Bedford is an all-Canadian firm that is still managed by its founders. We’re proud of our roots and our independence.