Financial Challenges:
Managing cashflow where there is heavy upfront investment, high costs and lagging growth at times. Hiring a CFO to manage heavy reporting and debt servicing requirements that come with external investment.
Talent Challenges:
Developing talent strategies to source, attract and retain more highly sort after, specialist talent. Continually professionalise the workforce in order to consistently grow and maintain and improve delivery and brand reputation.
Scalability Challenges:
Investing in systems, tech and processes to maintain quality as headcount and clientbase increases. Needing to grow quickly and manage the pressure to do so from ambitious investors that are typically on a 5-7 year schedule to exit.
Leadership Challenges:
Hiring proven leaders to take the business to the next level. Maintaining the vision and values whilst adding talent and new perspectives. Providing investors with the insight they require and aligning expectations.
Market Challenges:
Needing to develop deep and broad market knowledge to best manage market pressures. This includes macroeconomic trends, market conditions, competition and availability and cost of resources.
Strategic & Data Driven:
Leaders who dedicate time to creating a winning strategy. Leaders who have the nous to develop strong commercial plans. Leaders who make data and evidence based decisions and in its absence have good intuition.
Ambitious & Results Driven:
Leaders who are ambitious as to what is possible for the business within the timeframe of investment. Leaders who work at pace to make things happen. Leaders who are laser focused on performance and results.
Committed & Adaptive:
Leaders who are confident, fully commit and give their decisions time to succeed. Leaders who ,when things are clearly not working, can quickly adapt their strategy and execution. Leaders who are creative with often very limited resources.
Execution & Team Focused:
Leaders who have the ability to successfully execute against strategic plans. Leaders who lead from the front. Leaders who have the ability to build and utilise high performing teams in pursuit of strategic goals.
Investor Smart & Aligned:
Leaders who are financially literate relationship builders. Leaders who understand investor expectations, know the insight investor are looking for and provide this insight. Leaders who achieve good business outcomes.
Professionalisation:
Chairmen, CEOs, CFOs and COOs who can come into the business post investment and, knowing what good looks like, quickly improve people, processes and systems and put infrastructure in place for growth.
Expansion:
CCOs, CROs, CMOs and Sales Directors who can develop winning commercial strategies, sales, marketing and customer functions and innovative product suites, expand internationally and grow through strategic M&A.
Turnaround:
Turnaround CFOs, CEOs and Executive Chairmen, often on an interim basis, to take control of cashflow, restructure and reduce costs, improve the business proposition and finance and execute the turnaround plan.
Succession:
Professional CEOs to replace founders struggling to transition from doers to strategic leaders. New leaders fully committed to the business for the next investment cycle. Proven leaders to take the business to the next level.
Exit Preparation:
Chairmen, CEOs and CFOs who can quickly assess a company’s readiness to enter a sale process, take steps to position the business favourably to potential acquirers, manage due diligence and negotiate the sale.
Client Engagement:
We get to know the client and deeply understand their business, their strategic plans, their key opportunities and challenges, how the role being hired ties in and the type of candidate that is needed to deliver the change required. We then provide appropriate challenge to the client where necessary. We then ensure all stakeholders are aligned on the role and candidate requirements before starting the search.
Market Research:
We typically conduct 100+ hours of market research. We conduct extensive research into the clients’ market, relevant companies and prospective candidates within these companies. We conduct research into business deals in our clients market and prospective candidates involved with these companies. We take candidate recommendations from our extensive network of business leaders and investors. We review our extensive candidate network built over a decade.
Candidate Engagement:
We spend considerable time strategising on how to present the opportunity to prospective candidates in a way that generates maximum interest from the candidate marketplace. We then thoughtfully approach and engage these prospective candidates in the marketplace. We then qualify individuals interested in the opportunity, conducting thorough assessments as to whether they have the experience, skills and traits to be successful in the role.
Shortlist & Interviews:
We create a shortlist of the best candidates and introduce our client to these individuals. We then closely manage a thorough and timely interview and feedback process. Once our client has identified their preferred candidate we manage a thorough and timely offer and acceptance process. We then keep in touch with candidate and client periodically ensuring all parties are happy.
Permanent Searches:
We charge 25% of the preferred candidate’s basic salary made up of two fees. At the outset of the search we charge the retainer fee of £10,000. When we have helped our client secure their preferred candidate we charge the success fee calculated as the total charge less the retainer fee paid.
Interim Searches:
We charge 25% of the preferred candidate’s rate. Once we have helped our client secure their preferred interim candidate and the candidate begins the role, we bill the client every two weeks.
Proactive Introductions:
Knowing our clients well, some of our clients like us to proactively introduce them to prospective candidates that can enhance their business or businesses. Depending on the engagement, our permanent or interim search charges apply here.
