Chief Financial Officer and People Director
The Roles:
Lifetime Training Group
The Client:
The Client
Lifetime Training Group is one of the UK’s leading training providers, offering high-quality apprenticeships, recruitment services and self-funded training courses. Their bespoke training courses span a wide-range of industries in both the public and private sectors.
The founding principle of Lifetime was to enable individuals and businesses to perform better through the delivery of outstanding training programmes. Nearly 30 years since their origin, this principle remains the core of their business model - resulting in significant success and expansion. Lifetime currently provides training services for over 5,000 different UK companies. In 2021-22 they were voted No.1 training provider through ratemyapprenticeship.
One of our previous clients recommended Moon to Lifetime, based on our reputation, professionalism and success in filing Executive roles. We were initially approached to fill the People Director position. After a successful search campaign we were subsequently asked to place their new Chief Financial Officer. We are thrilled when clients are pleased with our work, and return for repeat business.
The main challenge we faced during the both search campaigns was working to a robust timetable and strict deadlines, as both roles had to be filled urgently. It was essential to fully understand the brief quickly and respond in an appropriate manner. The wide-ranging networks of Vanessa Moon and Simon Quinn were utilised to find fitting individuals. Through headhunt searches, we were able to suggest highly skilled and experienced candidates that met the specifications of the briefs, despite the strict deadlines.
Jason Smerdon was placed as the new Chief Financial Officer.
He joined from the University of Bristol where he was Group Finance Director for over five years, leading the financial management and reporting for their £780m annual revenue. Jason’s experience working with complex financial group structures combined with his passion for education were decisive factors in his placement. He commented:
“The recruitment process was a delightful and confidence-boosting experience. Vanessa and Simon were incredibly helpful and supportive. I felt energised upon joining and ready to achieve our goals.”
The People Director vacancy was filled by Di Gwinnell, a highly progressive individual with specialist experience across a range of customer centric organisations. We were particularly impressed by her experience and enthusiasm for understanding and enhancing a company’s culture.
Carl Cornish, Chief Operating Officer at Lifetime, commented:
“We’re very pleased to have Jason and Di as part of the team. Moon were receptive and responsive to specific briefs and strict timelines. Both positions had to be filled urgently. They suggested highly qualified candidates that exceeded our specifications, especially considering the small time-frame available.”
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