Case Studies
Group Finance Director vacancy in Surrey
The Brief
Grafton Banks Finance was asked by the CEO of a global £20m turnover company in Surrey to implement a recruitment campaign to find a Group Finance Director.
The CEO needed a strategic senior finance professional to work closely with him and the Board, to grow the business from £20 to £100m turnover over the next five years.
The candidate would also need to be able to demonstrate proven capability in reviewing, negotiating and managing complex, long term commercial business to business contracts.
Grafton Banks' campaign included advertising, networking and headhunting for the most relevant finance professionals in the market, as well as sourcing candidates from their own database.
A shortlist of five relevant CVs was submitted and two candidates out of the five were asked to attend an interview.
One of these candidates was asked back for a final stage interview and was subsequently offered the position.
The whole process was completed within a period of three weeks.
The Result
Both the client and the candidate were very pleased with the result. The client was particularly impressed with both the relevance of the CVs received and the speed and efficiency of how the process was managed.
The candidate made the following comment on the service he received:
"I have always held in high regard the way my consultant and his team at Grafton Banks conducts business, as since I've known him he has always practised the values of tenacity, honesty, creativity and professionalism.
The business style is a perfect blend of technology and social media, combined with old-school networking and understanding his clients and candidates requirements. I highly recommend working with Grafton Banks, and I look forward to continuing doing so for many more years".
Chief Finance Officer vacancy in Surrey
The Brief
Grafton Banks Finance was approached by the CEO of a rapidly expanding Private Equity backed FinTech SME based in Surrey to implement a recruitment campaign to find a Chief Financial Officer.
The CEO needed to be a commercially astute finance professional with previous Private Equity and FinTech sector experience at a CFO level. The plan was to dramatically increase revenue over the next five years and exit. With that in mind the CEO wanted a CFO who had previous experience of preparing a company for sale.
The organisation is global so required someone with knowledge of international accounting and multi currency. The position would cover all aspects of accounting for the business, however the most important area of the role was to offer commercial and strategic input to help grow the business. He wanted a candidate with sales forecasting, business planning and contract review and renewal experience as well as confident cash-flow management skills.
Grafton Banks Finance campaign included advertising, networking and targeted headhunting for the most relevant senior level finance professionals in the market as well as sourcing candidates from their own database.
A shortlist of seven relevant CVs was submitted and five candidates out of the seven were asked to attend an interview. Two were asked back for a second stage interview and one was eventually asked to meet the Chairman and offered the position.
The Result
Both the client and the candidate were very pleased with the result. The client was particularly impressed with the standard and relevance of the candidates submitted and it was a difficult choice to decide who to offer the position to out of the final two candidates in the process.
"My Consultant at Grafton Banks Finance met with me to take a detailed brief on the role to support the job description. I was very pleased with the quality of the candidates that were identified. My Consultant kept me posted throughout the process and in a refreshingly 'light touch' way compared to the other recruiters who are largely disrespectful that there is a 'day job' to do as well. The recruitment process with Grafton Banks Finance was very smooth, straightforward and business-like. I was very happy with the outcome too."
CFO Retained Search for CASCO Pet in Horsham
Grafton Banks Finance Executive Search were retained by the CEO of CASCO Pet in Horsham to recruit a CFO to take the business through the next stage of growth globally. CASCO Pet was established in 1997 and has teams based in the UK, across Europe, the USA and Australia. The business designs and manufactures market leading, bespoke pet enclosures for the retail and veterinary sector.
The requirements of the role were specific in that the successful candidate needed to possess the following skills and experience:
- Recent manufacturing sector experience Lots of commercial operations experience Hands on SME experience
- Global growth experience
- Systems and processes improvement experience
Grafton Banks Finance Executive Search spent around three weeks thoroughly mapping the market and compiling a relevant shortlist through headhunting, networking, advertising and using their own substantial database of local talent.
A final shortlist of nine relevant candidates was presented and seven of those were interviewed. Two candidates were invited back for a final stage interview and one of the two was subsequently offered the job.
Testimonial from Matthew Bubear - CEO:
"Faced with rapid growth and expansion, we needed to find experienced and talented candidates to lead and support our Global Finance team, all within an extremely tight timeline. Working with Alex was efficient and productive from the start, due to his friendly and professional approach, which makes it feel like he and his entire team are an integral part of your own team. All the screened candidates were of an excellent standard, making our task of separating them quite challenging, but ultimately very rewarding in the end, as is always the case when you run a competitive process. I would not hesitate in warmly recommending Grafton Banks to other business leaders."
CFO recruitment for private equity backed complex care business in Kent
Grafton Banks Finance Executive Search was asked by the CEO of Active Care Group in Sevenoaks, Kent, to recruit a CFO. Active Care Group is a £60m turnover private equity backed complex care business who are growing rapidly through acquisitions. Grafton Banks started the process by meeting with the CEO on site and taking down the full details of the position. The CEO and investors wanted a strategic and commercial finance professional with multi-site, buy and build experience as well as banking covenants and PE exposure.
Grafton Banks agreed to spend three weeks mapping the market, headhunting, networking, filtering CVs and meeting the prospective candidates. A total of six CVs were presented, five invited for interview and an offer was made an accepted all within a month of taking down the brief.
"Following our discussions and 'request list' Grafton Banks Finance quickly provided a tailored shortlist of credible candidates which enabled the business to progress through to interviews and offer stage within a short time frame, with the business appointing the successful candidate within a month of the brief. All parties were delighted with the end result!" - comments from the client.