Brief: We were approached by MGH Group, a Singaporean based origin led freight forwarding company with a turnover of $300m. Their next phase of growth was dependent on them growing their share of the European market. Their initial request was for us to recruit 5 country Managing Directors for France, Spain, Benelux, UK & the Nordic region. During the course of the initial meetings we discussed their plans and came to the conclusion that the more logical approach would be to recruit one European CEO who had the ability to spearhead the drive into Europe.
Actions: With the new, revised specification we commenced our initial market research. We developed a comprehensive list of all the suitable candidates from the UK and continental European markets. This list was then discussed with our clients and specific targets were ascertained.
Because of the way we work, the initial approaches were not made by a third party research company but by the Director of Logistics & Supply Chain Practice. This means that we are able to un-earth people's true motivations at a much earlier stage and so reduce the risks to both client and candidates.
We then carried out extensive preliminary interviews to ascertain people's skill sets but also their motivation and chemistry fit. Following these meetings we produced a shortlist of 6 potentials with whom we carried out further interviews to produce a final shortlist of 4 candidates that were submitted to the client.
The next stage was to arrange interviews. Being as the client was based in Singapore, this was always going to be tricky. We decided upon a date and flew the client over to the UK. We met up with the client prior to the meetings and managed the day for them. We briefed them prior to each interview and gained their feedback immediately after. We also were on hand to greet each candidate as they arrived and make sure that they were prepared for the meeting.
Following this first round of meetings the client decided upon their 2 favoured candidates. We then set about arranging a second round of interviews which again took place in the UK and was again organised and managed by ourselves.
Conclusion: From these meetings the client decided upon their preferred candidate. We then managed the offer process which was very detailed but with us acting as the intermediary meant that it was resolved successfully. We then walked the individual through their resignation and also organised their Far East trip to on board them into MGH.
< BACKBrief: Our client were launching a new internet offering to their customers and needed a Supply Chain Director to design, develop, implement and run a globally sourced supply chain with delivery points to individual homes.
There are only a limited number of people who are capable of carrying out such a high profile role and this was further exacerbated by the need for 100% confidentiality.
We conducted an exhaustive global search to highlight the very best people in the market. An initial approach was then made to each of these individuals and an initial assessment of their motivation was made.
Extensive interviews were then carried out and a shortlist of 3 people was put forward to the client. The interview process was managed by us and we negotiated the offer with the successful candidate.
Conclusion: The start-up was a complete success and won a number of international supply chain awards.
< BACKBrief: Our client was looking to replace a retiring long serving Finance Director for a £30m plus turnover family owned business. The key requirements from the non executive directors were to significantly improve the accounting processes and team but at the same time not increase the cost of the finance function.
Actions: In this instance search of competing businesses would not have been effective as the salary on offer was not high enough to pull experienced people out. Therefore it was agreed that Geoff Blackwell-Frier would be given one month to identify and meet up with up and coming accountants that lived in the North West who had not yet had the opportunity to be a Finance Director.
Conclusion: Three people were short listed for final interview, and the Managing Director said it was the first time that anyone had provided a shortlist where any one of the of the final three candidates could have been recruited.
< BACKBrief: Our client had lost its previous Finance Director who had been approached to do a Chief Executive Role with another business. Although this was a listed business the Managing Director was also a significant shareholder and the business was effectively built around this person. Fit with the Managing Director was therefore more important than experience alone, and because the Finance Director had already resigned and year end was fast approaching, there was a requirement to identify someone quickly.
Actions: Geoff Blackwell-Frier was retained to identify candidates that were already known to him from his previous 15 years experience that could be a good fit for this business.
Conclusion: A shortlist of five people was submitted and two were taken to final interview with the Non Executive Board. Twelve months on both client and candidate are very happy.
< BACKBrief: Our client had expanded rapidly through acquisition and needed to integrate and cross sell through commercial contracts new services to existing and new customers. Opportunities to progress to Managing Director were available in a number of the acquired businesses. The key thing for this requirement was the absolute commercial and interpersonal quality of the individual.
Actions: A three month search was conducted focused on up and coming Finance Directors with significant commercial exposure.
Conclusion: A shortlist of three was presented but there was one stand out candidate. This person was offered the position but got bought back by their current employer with a significant promotion. It was agreed to continue searching for other candidates and maintain contact with the offered candidate. Six weeks later the offered candidate phoned up to say they regretted their decision and asked if the opportunity was still available. The client was delighted and eighteen months on this person has progressed rapidly into a Divisional Managing Director role.
< BACKBrief: Our client was a large UK Financial Services business. The internal audit function was not particularly high profile and had not convinced senior management of its added value. Given the increased regulation in this sector the Board were keen to improve the quality of the whole function.
Actions: A national search was done focusing on Heads and Deputy of Internal Audit with experience of the financial services sector.
Conclusion: A shortlist of three candidates was presented and the successful candidate has been in place for four years now and completely transformed the image of the department which has more than doubled in size due to the quality of its work and its added value.
< BACKBrief: Our client had a particularly complex structure with a significant number of overseas trading companies and with 90% of its profits from non UK businesses. As a result the tax function played a particularly prominent role in how new businesses were set up, transfer pricing and general tax planning.
Actions: Our remit was to search nationally for an experienced Head Of Tax with extensive overseas tax planning experience and proven management of a large multi site department. The difficulty with this assignment was that we were effectively looking to find a career person to move sideways into a role that was at a similar level but was perhaps more challenging from a size and complexity perspective.
Conclusion: The research and pre-screening work took ten weeks to complete and we produced a high quality shortlist of three people. One pulled out at second interview stage leaving two in the process. One candidate was offered the role, accepted and then got a buy back from their current employer. The final candidate accepted the role and is happily employed three years later.
< BACKBrief: Our client had retained another search firm to replace an existing Finance Director who was released when results were significantly below expectations. A public announcement had been made and the client needed to be seen to make a credible appointment.
Actions: Although not initially given this brief Geoff Blackwell-Frier picked up on the announcement and wrote to the Chief Executive to offer his assistance. Four months later he was invited to meet the Chief Executive who explained that the job had been turned down and whilst there was a potential candidate that they could offer he was keen to explore other options.
Conclusion: Following the briefing one candidate was suggested who met the Chief Executive that week and two weeks later was offered the job having met all the Non Executives. The business has subsequently grown rapidly with turnover increasing by 400% and a small operating loss in now a significant after tax profit.
< BACKHaving successfully recruited a problematic role for a Global LED Manufacturer, we were referred to the European Sales Director of a PEI Genesis.
Brief: The Brief – Recruit a Business Development Manager to penetrate a new market.
From inception, the Client was happy for Sphere Group to lead this search as they did not have the contacts required to recruit this role. The difficulties were three-fold; identify an individual who met all of the competencies; an individual who was suitably located and finally attract the individual to a ‘new company’ with no sector presence. We agreed the best method for success was a retained Search Assignment – which was a new concept for the Client. Having conducted a full search, the Client was torn between two exceptional candidates, and finally chose the more experienced. We received a testimonial from the European HR Manager to thank us for sourcing an individual they would never have found. The candidate has since established the business as a recognised player in the new market.
< BACKBrief: Our client had expanded rapidly through acquisition and needed to install best practice management into one of the acquired subsidiary businesses. Opportunities to progress to Managing Director were available in a number of the acquired businesses. The key thing for this requirement was the absolute commercial and interpersonal quality of the individual and fit with the existing management team.
Actions: This assignment was conducted as a retained search over a six month period. Rather than produce a definitive short list, candidates were presented as and when a suitable candidate was identified, as the person specification was more important than the precise sector experience.
Conclusion: Four people were presented to the client in total, of which two were taken to final interview stage and the assignment was successfully completed in January 2011. It is hoped by all concerned that the successful candidate will progress into a Managing Director within 12 months.
< BACKBrief: The brief was to find a top drawer candidate with excellent academic background and potential to reach the Board. They needed to have both Internal Audit and Financial services experience at a senior level, plus have the gravitas and charisma to lead an existing team and interact with FSA and Senior Management.
Actions: Sphere Group adopted a combined approach of Executive headhunt and advertising on a Senior Financial Jobs Board. We put together a shortlist of candidates, particularly from London, where Financial Services businesses are more abundant.
Conclusion: Ultimately a local candidate was appointed and is doing extremely well in his role. He is now recruiting via Sphere Group to grow his team further.
< BACKBrief: We were given a difficult brief by a £80m T/O Canadian company who wanted to recruit a German speaking Finance Director to be based between Brighton and Germany. The German division reported everything in local GAAP for tax purposes, and also the reports and accounts were in German. No-one in Head Office spoke fluent German so local visibility was a real issue, coupled with an 8 hour time difference.
Actions: We advised the Chief Executive that owing to the narrow criteria, it would be best to select from candidates who had experience of working in German finance teams rather than stipulating that they had to speak German. Having agreed on this, a full headhunt assignment was carried out from our Birmingham office, and candidates interviewed and briefed on the role. The Group Finance Director flew over from Canada for 2 days of interviews and the Chief Executive then interviewed the chosen two candidates via webcam.
Conclusion: A candidate was successfully appointed and in 3 months had overhauled the accounting systems which enabled the Management team in Canada to effectively run the German division. The client was extremely impressed with the quality of service and the candidate, saying we had "surpassed expectations".
< BACKBrief: Our client had used us on several previous occasions due to our singular and extensive knowledge of the ACA candidate marketplace. They required a very specific candidate – one familiar with the very latest technical developments in IFRS and Plc reporting whilst having the ability to lead, manage and motivate a sizeable team of finance professionals.
Actions: The timeframes were challenging and required substantial investment in time to approach a narrow sub-set of likely candidates, interview them to an agreed set of competencies and write a comprehensive profile of the selected candidates to accompany their own CV.
Conclusion: We identified, met and submitted three candidates, all at senior manager level in practice, in less than three weeks. All were judged as highly competent and capable of the pastoral and managerial duties required by the role. Our client was very satisfied and ultimately found it very hard to choose a preferred candidate such was the quality of our shortlist.
< BACKBrief: Our client was looking to create a new role to support the operational functions of the business and provide quality management information to drive profit. The Finance Director and Operational managers required a qualified accountant with a strong commercial acumen and ability to challenge at all levels. Initially they wanted previous commercial experience.
Actions: Exclusively retained for this assignment Sphere Group produced a shortlist of three candidates. Recognising that it was personality rather than experience that was key to this role, we advised the client to look at a high quality Big 4 ACA coming straight from Audit, but with an exceptional ability to build relationships with people of all backgrounds and all levels.
Conclusion: Despite the lack of experience compared to the other shortlisted candidates, this Big 4 Auditor was offered the position and accepted. As a result the candidate has gained commercial exposure that would not normally be attributed to someone of their level.
< BACKBrief: Our client had retained a search company to recruit a high calibre newly qualified accountant into its UK Finance team. However, after 12 weeks of exclusivity the firm had been unable to provide the right quality of candidate.
Actions: Quickly ascertaining the key requirements for the position and with the knowledge that the client had already paid an up front fee, Sphere Group advised the client to meet one specific individual that he had been representing who was looking for their first move from practice into a dynamic and sizeable business.
Conclusion: After one interview the client decided that this candidate was ideal and an offer was relayed the same day. Three years on the candidate has progressed into a management role, taking on the financial controllership of another division within the group.
< BACKBrief: Our client had experienced 40% growth in the previous 12 months both organically and through acquisition. As a result the Finance Director was looking for a No. 2 who could be groomed to become the future Finance Director following his exit.
Actions: After interviewing one candidate it was clear that the initial specification for the role was too junior, and following conversations with Sphere Group the Finance Director increased the level. Three further candidates were short listed, including one immediately available candidate, who was brought back for a second stage interview with the CEO.
Conclusion: This candidate was successful and a six month contract was offered. Almost three years on, this individual is still with the business, has progressed into a more operational based role, and is now heavily influencing the decision making process.
< BACKBrief: The Group Tax Manager of a listed business in the Midlands needed to bring an ACA and CTA qualified professional into their team with two years of post-qualification experience. The individual was required to have in-depth experience of Corporation Tax as well as grounding in Transfer Pricing.
Actions: I set about contacting all the individuals I was aware of with this skill set, however due to uncertain market conditions in the economy, most were content to keep their heads down and continue in their current roles. Through a combination of headhunting and running a targeted email simultaneously, I generated a shortlist of three candidates who were presented to the client and all taken through the first interview stage, with two being selected for a final interview.
Conclusion: The client offered the job to one of my candidates, and commented that should they have turned it down they would have offered it to the other candidate instead. Both candidate and client have been delighted with the service and the business has performed well through the economic downturn and is now going from strength to strength.
< BACKBrief: Sphere Group was engaged by the Assurance Controller of an existing client to recruit an auditor from a Big Four firm of accountants with extremely specific industry expertise.
Actions: The specific nature of this assignment coupled with an out-lying geographical location made the search criteria for the role very narrow and therefore a quite defined group of potential candidates were available. The lead consultant was constantly in consultation with the client who was confident through working with Sphere previously that he role would successfully be filled. Owing to Sphere’s extensive network and relationships within Big Four circles, a shortlist of candidates was quickly identified, screened and interviewed and those suitable were put in front of the client.
Conclusion: The process was extremely smooth and the client made an offer to their first choice candidate which was accepted on the spot. The client and individual have been extremely pleased with Sphere’s matching service, and the relationship has gone from strength to strength being their first port of call for all recruitment requiring a qualified accountant.
< BACKBrief: The Group Financial Controller made Sphere Group aware of a Technical Accounting position that had arisen as a result of head-office relocation. This was a business critical appointment that required an ACA qualified, Big 4 trained accountant of the utmost calibre and someone who could demonstrate not only an advanced knowledge of technical accounting and reporting within a listed company environment, but also someone at the top of their peer group.
Actions: Despite these candidates typically being in very short supply, we were able to target and identify a candidate that met all of the above criteria by using our proven search methodology and this individual subsequently received an offer from the client. The difficulty came when managing the offer process since the Big 4 practice for whom the candidate currently worked was doing everything in their power to prevent the candidate from leaving, ranging from aggressive buy-backs to offering the candidate new internal opportunities. We circumvented this action by working closely with the client to facilitate a number of further meetings and also liaised with the client to come up with a number of unique career development opportunities within the aforementioned business that made the opportunity even better than the one within their current firm.
Conclusion: On successful completion of the process, the candidate thanked us for looking after their best interests as the role we found them served their career plan far better than remaining with their current organisation. We were praised by the Group FC for adding a huge amount of value to the process and additionally received a subsequent referral to another senior finance person within the business who sought candidates of a similar pedigree.
< BACKBrief: The Finance Administration Manager has a team of 35 staff, which in turn manages people across the EMEA region. They frequently need to recruit newly qualified Chartered Accountants who have been trained by the Big 4 firms. The recruiting manager informed us that there was an expected recruitment freeze in 6 weeks and they needed to recruit an Entity Controller before this was put in place. They had been looking for a number of months already through a variety of agencies but with no success. As a result we found that most of the candidates who would have been interested in the position had already been contacted by more than one agency about the role over the last 12 months and this had given them the perception that the role was unattractive.
Actions: We sent a dedicated mail shot to all recently qualified, Big 4 trained ACAs including those who were exam qualified and were due to complete their training contracts next August/ September. This was followed up with telephone calls, a review of relevant CVs, and all relevant candidates being met by Sphere Group resulting in half a dozen quality candidates being put forward to the client.
Conclusion: The best candidate in this process still had their final Case Study exam to take and initially our client did not want to take a risk interviewing a candidate who might not be able to accept the position if they did not qualify. They had performed exceptionally well when we interviewed them so we persuaded the managers to meet them. They were very impressed and offered the job to this candidate who in turn passed their final exam, completed their contract and started work for our client in September. The recruiting manager is very pleased with their progress to date and of the fact an offer was made and accepted within the prescribed timetable allowing the recruiting manager to appoint into this position before the recruitment embargo was announced.
< BACKBrief: The Group Reporting Manager had spent nearly 12 months trying to recruit a Group accountant. The successful candidate would be consolidating 200 subsidiaries and preparing monthly, six-monthly and annual accounts. They therefore needed a recently qualified Big 4 ACA who has experience of dealing with technical IFRS, UKGAAP and consolidation issues for £multi-billion organisations. Our client uses this department as a training ground for more senior positions within the group and therefore needed a technical expert with a strong/ ambitious personality. They were also getting frustrated with the recruitment process because of the magnitude of irrelevant CVs received and the time spent interviewing candidates who were not really interested in the position or whose personalities did not match the requirement.
Actions: Most of the financial recruitment agencies had already contacted suitable candidates over the last 12 months; the lack of project work/ commercial aspects to the role made it unattractive to ambitious candidates. We contacted 150 Big 4 candidates by telephone and email that had qualified in the last 3 years. We interviewed 11 of these and sent 4 CVs to the client, who interviewed 3. A number of the candidates we interviewed had been contacted previously by other agencies about this role and turned it down. Sphere has a reputation for telling the truth about roles and matching candidates’ knowledge and experience as well as personality to clients’ requirements. These candidates were therefore happy to find out further information about the role and company from us.
Conclusion: We only sent our client 4 CVs of high-calibre candidates who were genuinely interested in the position, which resulted in a successful placement. The Group Reporting Manager is very pleased with the candidate’s progress to date.
< BACKBrief: Our client was in the process of relocating the finance function from Birmingham to North-West London and as a result had to make the existing team redundant and recruit a new team in the South. On the back of previous success and a strong personal relationship with Nick Jones in our Birmingham office, the Finance Director retained Sphere Group to recruit a Finance Manager. The FD needed a future leader and someone who demonstrated the intellectual capacity to be able to progress quickly through the company, based on future growth forecasts and the scale of planned projects going forward.
Actions: Despite the geographical challenges operating the assignment from our Birmingham office, we were able to perform a full search alongside a dedicated advert to ensure we reached as many relevant candidates as feasibly possible. Suitable candidates were screened and met in London and a shortlist of 3 people was presented to the client, with two candidates being taken forward to second interview stage.
Conclusion: The client was able to successfully appoint their chosen candidate through Sphere Group and the candidate was promoted into the role of Financial Controller after only 6 months in the role.
< BACKBrief: The Head of Internal Audit needed assistance in recruiting a newly created position of an Internal Audit Manager. The successful appointee would need to be responsible for auditing their large Spanish division and as a result needed to speak fluent Spanish & English and spend 50% of their time in Spain and the remainder in the UK. Given our Internal Audit specialism, the client was confident in Sphere Group's ability to fill the position, despite the difficult nature of their requirement.
Actions: We conducted an exhaustive search to highlight the very best people in the marketplace which resulted in a shortlist of two high-calibre, fluent Spanish speakers. Despite having a very good grounding in Internal Audit, our preferred candidate had previously spent a large amount of time outside of this field in commercial finance positions and for that reason the client was initially reticent about interviewing them for the role, as they didn’t think the candidate was seriously interested in Internal Audit. Having met up with this individual we were certain they were right for the position both from an experience and a personality point of view and convinced our client that they needed to see them since unlike the other candidates they were interviewing for the role, this person was a Spanish National who spoke fluent business English, as opposed to being English and speaking fluent Spanish.
Conclusion: The client appointed our candidate after two meetings and thanked us for persuading them to change their mind. The interview process highlighted their suitability for the role, and demonstrated their awareness of the differences in cultures when auditing in the UK and Spain which was absolutely crucial to the position.
< BACKBrief: This client is based in a remote part of Lancashire and sought a recently qualified ACA to join the group and assist with the development of group reporting, updating the IT systems and leading the accounts team. There was also the fact that this candidate needed to be ambitious as they would be an integral part of the succession planning for the Head of Finance as his role broadened.
Actions: We knew that the potential candidate pool of “first-mover” ACAs was likely to be small and highly sought after by larger businesses within their area - thus a comprehensive networking and headhunting assignment was undertaken over a short period to identify talented and ambitious candidates.
Conclusion: Ultimately we sourced three candidates for interview (many more were discouraged by the location) and one stood head and shoulders above the others, capable as they were. The client expedited the process and swiftly appointed the preferred candidate and is thoroughly pleased with his progress to date.
< BACKBrief: The M&A team in this business were severely stretched as they had made a number of high profile acquisitions. They needed to recruit two experienced members into their team as expediently as possible.
Actions: Our Search encompassed both Public Practice and Industry and there was a very small pool of candidates at the right level who were looking to make a move. We sold the benefits of the opportunity and were able to present the company with a shortlist of 4 individuals who all exactly matched our client’s criteria.
Conclusion: Two candidates were offered the roles and duly accepted. The client said the calibre was second to none and was delighted with the outcome of the process.
< BACKBrief: The brief was to find both a Head of Financial Reporting and a Head of Internal Audit as this company was undergoing a dynamic restructuring and wanting to bring in new talent. The criteria were quite specific and it was made clear that only exceptional candidates would be considered, and this would be tested by a very thorough interview and assessment process. Because the company was going through so much change and there was a great deal of other recruitment taking place, the process was very long and drawn out.
Actions: Sphere Group was aware that another FS business within commuting distance was drastically downsizing its workforce due to an office relocation, so had conversations with people we knew from that company in a client capacity. They were receptive to hearing what we had to say and entered into the recruitment process. The biggest challenge was keeping two excellent candidates warm to the roles as it took nearly a year of interviews before the company was in a position to make formal offers.
Conclusion: Luckily both accepted and are both established as part of the senior team.
< BACKBrief: Our client was a medium size listed business who had just lost its current head of Treasury to a larger listed business. Geoff Blackwell-Frier was briefed by the Group Finance Director and departing Head Of Treasury to do a full search of treasury professionals working within 100 miles of our client.
Actions: The main challenge with this assignment was that the person also had to have some knowledge of tax planning, as they ideally wanted the Tax Manager in the business to report directly into the Head Of Treasury. The search and pre-screening work took six weeks to complete.
Conclusion: The client only wanted to get involved with final interviews and therefore we only presented a shortlist of three people. The client was extremely impressed by the speed and quality of the shortlist. From their perspective they only had to spend two and a half hours with us and four hours with the short listed candidates to fill an extremely difficult role. There were two candidates within budget that they could happily offer and in this case the preferred candidate was offered and accepted the role.
< BACKBrief: The Managing Partner of the Birmingham Restructuring team required assistance in searching for an experienced Restructuring Associate to join the Practice in response to an expanding case load. The successful individual required a solid foundation in the Restructuring environment and an in-depth knowledge of the IPS accounting system and methodology used.
Actions: The pool of potential suitors for the role in the Midlands is fairly limited and traditionally there is very little movement between the Big 4 firms, therefore this presented a challenge to find a suitable individual. Our Practice expert leveraged off his personal network built up after spending three years in the Restructuring profession himself, and knew immediately of an individual who would be perfect for the outlined role. After contacting and briefing them fully on the role, their details were forwarded to the recruiting manager and they were called for interview.
Conclusion: The candidate was appointed after two meetings and has enjoyed a seamless transition into his new firm. The client praised Sphere's efforts in being able to find someone so expediently who was perfectly suited for the role.
< BACKBrief: We were engaged by the Assurance Controller of an existing client to recruit an auditor from a Big Four firm of accountants with extremely specific industry expertise.
Actions: The specific nature of this assignment coupled with an out-lying geographical location made the search criteria for the role very narrow and therefore we were working with a very defined group of potential candidates. We were constantly in consultation with the client who was confident through working with us previously that we would successfully fill the role. Owing to our extensive network and relationships within Big Four circles, we were able to quickly identify, screen and interview a shortlist of candidates and then get them in front of the client.
Conclusion: The process was really smooth and the client made an offer to their first choice candidate which was accepted on the spot. The client and individual have been extremely pleased with our matching service, and the relationship with Sphere Group has gone from strength to strength, being their first port of call for all recruitment requiring a qualified accountant.
< BACKBrief: Our client had recently implemented a substantial piece of business from a major UK retailer. This client was very involved in the recruitment process and had some very particular opinions on what they were looking for from the role.
We acted as an intermediary, discussing the position with all parties in order to iron out any differences in opinion.
Once the specific brief was agreed by all parties we conducted a full search and produced a shortlist of 3 candidates all of whom matched the brief closely.
We were then able to manage the interview process and make sure that the candidates were well briefed prior to meeting the client and their customer also.
Conclusion: Our client appointed the successful candidate and the contract has gone from strength to strength.
< BACKBrief: We received a call directly from one of the Hiring Managers from a major Blue Chip Manufacturer. This was a client who historically we had always dealt with directly via the Resourcing Team. However in this instance our main point of contact was on holiday and there was an urgent need to fill the position of Transport Planner for their Southern Operation. The candidate required would need to have direct chilled food experience, ideally from a Blue Chip background. There was also a prerequisite for them to be highly experienced with the Paragon planning application.
Actions: The Hiring Manager was recommended to call us direct. As we hadn't worked with this gentleman before, aside from taking the general job brief, we spent 30 minutes getting to understand him and how he himself fit into the business Supply Chain model. This not only gave us a much clearer view of his part of the business, but also enabled us to build up a good rapport which continued to grow throughout the process.
We submitted 2 Transport Planners to him within 24 hours who were both interviewed at very short notice over the next 48 hour period. Both candidates were then invited back for a second stage interview the following week.
Conclusion: Within a 2 week timeframe we had developed a new working relationship with one of our clients' Line Managers, successfully organised 4 interviews in total, received a job offer for one of those candidates and were assured directly by the Hiring Manager that both were of such a high caliber, they would have liked to have offered both candidates a position if the budget had allowed for it.
< BACKBrief: Our client, a major Blue Chip Manufacturer, needed assistance in recruiting a Senior Warehouse Director to run their flagship National Distribution Centre. The client had exhausted their internal process and required a true specialist Supply Chain & Logistics recruitment company to actively enter the market and find them a solution. The candidate needed to have multi-temperature logistics experience, large DC experience and worked within a fast paced 3PL/Retail environment.
Actions: We proceeded to get a thorough brief of the role from the Resource Team and went one stage further by speaking to the Hiring Managers directly to get a detailed strategic and cultural breakdown of the position. We then proceeded to utilise our existing network of contacts over the period of the next week, either directly targeting people we knew already or obtaining recommendations from people who were highly rated within the Supply Chain & Logistics field. This resulted in us being able to present a high caliber shortlist of 6 candidates after interviewing them on a face to face basis.
Conclusion: Our client selected 4 of the candidates for first stage interview, two of which were brought to a second and third interview. The appointment of one of these candidates was made shortly afterwards. The second candidate was eventually taken on into a separate role for the client's Southern Operation.
< BACKBrief: Our client had been having problems recruiting for a number of Shift Manager positions which was impacting on their operation.
Actions: After meeting with the client we put forward a proposal which involved a full advertised search campaign.
We were then able to find a number of suitable candidates for interview and subsequently managed the interview process and make sure that the candidates were well briefed and kept up to date at all times. We negotiated the offers and start dates with the successful candidates.
Conclusion: Our client appointed 4 successful candidates within a short period of time.
< BACKBrief: Our client was looking to fill a brand new position to develop, and improve a globally sourced failing supply chain operation.
The client was aware that due to location and products there were only a limited number of people who were capable of carrying out such an important role.
Actions: We conducted a search campaign to highlight the best people. An initial approach was then made to each of these individuals and an initial assessment of their motivation was made.
Extensive interviews were then carried out and a shortlist of 3 people was put forward to the client. The interview process was managed by us and we negotiated the offer with the successful candidate.
Conclusion: The candidate has proved to be a major success and has made dramatic improvements to the operation. The client is very happy with the outcome and is looking to use Sphere Group again to grow the operation further.
< BACKBrief: Having successfully recruited a Northern European Sales Manager, we were asked to compliment that piece of recruitment by identifying and recruiting a Lighting Designer. Lighting Designer
Actions: We immediately went to our network of previously head-hunted candidates and selected three candidates to be interviewed by our client.
Conclusion: Within three weeks of contacting Sphere Group, our client had secured a lighting designer.
< BACKBrief: Our client were launching a new internet offering to their customers and needed a Supply Chain Director to design, develop, implement and run a globally sourced supply chain with delivery points to individual homes.
There are only a limited number of people who are capable of carrying out such a high profile role and this was further exacerbated by the need for 100% confidentiality.
Actions: We conducted an exhaustive global search to highlight the very best people in the market. An initial approach was then made to each of these individuals and an initial assessment of their motivation was made.
Extensive interviews were then carried out and a shortlist of 3 people was put forward to the client. The interview process was managed by us and we negotiated the offer with the successful candidate.
Conclusion: The start-up was a complete success and won a number of international supply chain awards.
< BACK