for Alongside
Moon Executive Search supports Alongside with specialist Retail Trustee appointment.
When Alongside (the new name for Julian House) needed a new Retail Trustee, they came to Moon Executive Search to help them identify someone with the depth of charity retail expertise to support their retail strategy development plans.
Alongside was a new client for Moon. They were looking for an executive search firm with a track record for handling trustee recruitment and a strong South-West network.
Alongside is one of the South West's leading homelessness charities, supporting more than 2,700 people a year across Bath, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset and Devon.
The brief
Unlike many of the trustee appointments handled by Moon this appointment needed not only experience of operating at a senior leadership level and governance expertise, but it also required a proven record of navigating retail revenue in the charity sector.
With retail and fundraising accounting for around 20% of the charity's income, finding the right person was important.
The search
Moon carried out a combination of headhunting and advertising to attract candidates from across the charity retail sector and beyond.
The challenge was finding someone who understood charity retail at a senior level and was motivated by a trustee opportunity rather than a paid role.
The appointment
The successful candidate was Georgina Evans, who having recently left her senior London based retail role with Crisis could give her time through trustee / voluntary board work. As Head of Retail at Crisis, Georgina grew the shop portfolio from four stores to seventeen and increased net retail income to around £800,000 per year. She built a strong retail team, developed clear progression opportunities and helped raise the profile of retail within the wider organisation and through building partnership with external organisations.
“I wanted a trustee role where I could use my retail experience to support a cause I cared about. Moon really understood what I was looking for and introduced me to an opportunity where I felt I could make a meaningful contribution.”
“This was a really interesting brief because Alongside wasn’t looking for a traditional trustee appointment. They wanted someone who had experience leading charity retail operations. By combining a targeted search with advertising, we were able to engage candidates from across the sector and ultimately find someone whose experience matched exactly what the Board was looking for.”
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