Partners
The Role:
Client Confidential
The Client:
This is a leading high profile acquisitive, successful and growing regional firm of chartered accountants and advisers. They were seeking to source several new Partners to join their office network across the South West.
The Campaign
The Managing Partner was seeking to appoint two new Partners; one an established Partner and one a Partner Designate looking to have accountability for a broad range of clients.
Both were new opportunities arising due to growth and succession planning and offering very clear upward career progression within the firm. The roles were very varied, managing a portfolio of audit and advisory work including clients ranging from large corporates and smaller businesses as well as charities and not for profit organisations.
The roles were focused on developing and building client relationships and therefore required candidates who could clearly evidence well-established networks in the South West. They would take the lead on marketing initiatives and be active in the local business community to develop the client base. We expected the candidates to be involved in the overall strategic planning of the firm, which had ambitious plans for continued growth and business development.
The Challenge
We adopted a thorough national search, with a detailed screening process. This enabled us to fully assess each candidate’s experience, background, and their soft and hard skills against the search criteria, as well as against the firm’s core values and aspirations. We wanted to identify ambitious candidates with very clear aspirational career goals.
Key to this challenge was the need to respect utmost confidentiality for the candidates and the firm, given the relatively small nature of this specific marketplace. Indeed, this market often even works without a CV, but relies upon strategic introductions. Given this, candidates were asked to sign an NDA, as this protected them as much as it did the firm.
We also looked to establish an understanding of the following: a candidate’s personal situation in their respective firms, whether they were they a known ‘name’ in the market, their current reputation and their client or sector specialism. Also, it was critical to understand any restrictive covenants in place, whether they were an equity or salaried Partner and what their notice periods were. The client knew it would take time to effectively scope the market and identify suitable candidates and therefore they gave us space and time to allow us to conduct a thorough search. We established a system of weekly reporting on results and progress.
The Solution
After six months, we had successfully hired the Senior Partner and after nine months the Partner Designate joined the firm on the proviso that they would become a Partner after six months in situ. The Senior partner joined from a mid-tier firm and the Partner Designate from a top four firm, joining different offices within our client’s network. It was an intense search mandate, complicated by the sensitivities of confidentiality, but one that we were ultimately delighted to complete for our Client.
Moon Executive Search provide bespoke solutions for clients, using our extensive expertise and knowledge gained from twenty years of recruiting to find your perfect candidate. If you are looking to appoint a senior leader to your Board, visit Build Your Board to get started, or call us on 01275 371200.
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