Insights

This week, we mark five years of David Beeston at Hyperion Search. To celebrate, we set him five questions - one for every year - covering the moments that shaped him, the market shifts he's witnessed, and where he sees the energy transition heading next.

1. Cast your mind back to day one - what drew you to Hyperion Search, and did you have any idea what the next five years would look like?

Well firstly, that feels a lot longer than 5 years ago!

The answer to this one is quite simple – impact. At the time, I was looking for a new challenge that would inspire me and Hyperion did just that, presenting the exciting opportunity to build the Energy Storage & Grid practice as part of fast-growing, transformational energy transition. Alongside this, it was the chance to have a positive impact on the planet and people’s lives, which was very refreshing after 9 years in executive search across primarily “dirty” industries like O&G and chemicals.

The 5 years have exceeded all of my expectations. I’ve had the chance to work with some wonderful colleagues, who are as equally driven and passionate as I am and deliver some fantastic value to international clients.

The entrepreneurial culture has been one of the best parts about it – I’ve loved having the opportunity to shape my own future and progress quickly along the way.

2. You've spent most of your time here deep in the energy storage and grid space - what's the single biggest shift you've seen in that market, and how has it changed the way you work with clients and candidates?

What I’ve loved about this space is the rate of growth and market maturity. When I started out, the UK market was one of the main pioneers in BESS but fast forward 5 years and there is huge growth across Europe, with many markets now mature with tangible operational battery capacity. On the technology side, I’m blown away by how quickly Storage and Grid technologies have evolved – whether that’s battery analytics, trading and flexibility platforms, or grid management AI - there is now a huge selection of tech providers out there but also fantastic collaboration on show.

As markets and technologies have evolved, so have clients’ expectations. There is now a real focus on delivery excellence – those who can not only innovate but also execute the roll out of projects / new products.

3. Five years throws up a lot of deals, candidates, and clients - is there one placement or moment that you look back on as genuinely meaningful, where you felt Hyperion really made a difference?

It’s hard to pinpoint just one placement out of many, but I’ve been particularly proud of our work with iwell in the last 2 years. We’ve played a key role in their expansion outside of their native Netherlands, with 5 key hires across UK and Germany. The UK team build out has been really rewarding – seeing Mark, the Country Director, doing a wonderful job successfully building the business from a standing start in 2025, and Hyperion supporting further UK hires since then. Moving to the UK came with big risk for iwell, so we’re delighted to see the progress made already.

4. Stepping into the Co-Managing Partner role with Steve at the start of this year is a significant shift, how has your perspective on the business changed now that you're helping to lead it, rather than just build within it?

Firstly, Stephen is a fantastic partner to have alongside me and it is vitally important that we have always shared the same vision and values, alongside Ross, our brilliant long-serving Director of Delivery. Hyperion has always delivered great value to our clients and candidates so in that regard, it’s not been about reinventing the wheel. What drives us is providing that value to even more companies and people worldwide but also doubling down on offering a wonderful working environment for our team. We care about our people and want to make this the most fun, rewarding, and impactful company we can.

5. Cleantech and the energy transition are moving faster than almost any other sector - where do you see the greatest demand for leadership talent over the next 5 years, and what does that mean for how Hyperion needs to evolve?

I featured this in a recent article actually. Clean energy assets are now key pillars of critical infrastructure, and therefore we will need the leadership profiles to match. Holistic leaders, those with the T-shape profile i.e. core expertise in one area, but high capabilities across multiple functions (strategy, finance, policy/regulatory affairs, operations, marketing etc) will be essential. With the rapid rise of AI, those leaders who embrace a strategy that entwines new technologies and human creativity, will success above the rest.