Case Study: Supporting Internal HR on Strategic Projects with Specialist Resourcing

Client Overview: Our client, a well-established company with a robust internal HR team, faced a significant challenge when they needed to recruit two Regional Sales Managers. Although their HR team was highly capable, they were fully engaged in a strategic internal project that left them with limited capacity to conduct the recruitment search and process.

The Challenge: The need to hire two critical Regional Sales Managers coincided with the internal HR team’s focus on a high-priority, time-sensitive project. This overlap created a bandwidth issue, preventing the team from dedicating the necessary time and attention to the recruitment process. It was crucial for the company to find qualified candidates promptly without pulling the HR team away from their strategic responsibilities.

Our Approach: Our specialist resourcing team stepped in to manage the recruitment process with minimal disruption to the client’s internal operations. We initiated a discreet and highly confidential search, given the seniority of the roles and the client’s preference for maintaining confidentiality in the market.

• Long-List Creation: After an in-depth understanding of the role requirements and the desired profile, our team conducted a thorough search, identifying a broad pool of potential candidates.
• Collaboration with Internal HR: We worked closely under the guidance of the client’s internal HR team, ensuring that our search and selection process aligned with their expectations and cultural fit requirements.
• Initial Interviews: Our team managed the first stage of interviews, filtering the long-list down to a refined shortlist of six highly qualified candidates.
• Handing Over to HR: Once the shortlist was finalised, we handed the process back to the internal HR team, who took over the final stages of interviews and assessments to make their final selection.

The Outcome: By managing the initial stages of the recruitment process, we saved the internal HR team significant time and allowed them to stay focused on their strategic project. The discreet search ensured no market disruption, and our swift, efficient approach resulted in a qualified shortlist ready for final interviews.

The collaboration between our resourcing team and the client’s internal HR allowed for seamless integration, ensuring that both strategic projects and critical hires were completed effectively.

Case Study: Recruiting a Marketing Director for a Household Name Leisure Brand

Background

A prominent leisure brand, well-recognised across the UK, was facing a strategic shift in its marketing operations. The company had a strong legacy in the industry, but with changing consumer habits, increased competition, and the rising importance of digital channels, it was clear that their marketing approach needed to evolve. The company required a Marketing Director capable of leading this transformation, someone with the right blend of experience, strategic insight, and innovative thinking.

The company approached NorthCo, recognising our deep expertise in executive recruitment and leadership strategy. They sought a marketing leader who could blend traditional brand strength with modern, data-driven marketing approaches, enabling them to remain competitive while expanding their market presence.

Objectives

• Recruit a Marketing Director with the expertise to lead a multi-channel marketing strategy, incorporating digital, social, and traditional channels.
• Ensure alignment with company culture, given the brand’s long history and strong identity.
• Manage the launch of three new websites through an outsourced developer, ensuring they support the overall marketing strategy.
• Future-proof the marketing strategy, focusing on data-driven decisions, customer engagement, and new technology adoption.

Approach

1. Understanding the Business Needs

NorthCo’s first step was to engage with the senior leadership team to fully understand the business strategy, challenges, and vision for the future. It was important to clearly identify what the business needed beyond a traditional marketing leader—someone who could lead a transformation, inspire change, and elevate the brand’s presence across new channels.

Through these discussions, it became apparent that the company needed a Director with strong digital expertise, an innovative mindset, and the ability to blend traditional brand-building techniques with cutting-edge digital marketing strategies. The ideal candidate had to be forward-thinking while still respecting the company’s legacy.

2. Market Mapping and Search Strategy

Our next step involved comprehensive market mapping, identifying candidates both within the leisure industry and beyond. While experience in leisure brands was important, we also looked for candidates with a proven track record in transforming marketing functions within other sectors, such as retail or hospitality, that were also experiencing similar digital disruption.

Using our established network and leveraging executive recruitment tools, we identified several high-potential candidates, each bringing a unique perspective on how to position a long-established brand in a modern marketplace.

3. Candidate Evaluation and Shortlisting

Once a broad pool of candidates was established, we conducted in-depth evaluations. This involved:

• Structured interviews focusing on leadership style, strategic thinking, and their ability to innovate within a structured corporate environment.
• Case study assessments to test their strategic approach to digital transformation, customer engagement, and driving revenue through modern marketing techniques.
• Cultural alignment assessments to ensure that the candidates would not only bring the necessary expertise but also fit within the organisation’s established culture.

From this, we shortlisted three candidates who met the brand’s criteria, all of whom had a strong digital and multi-channel marketing background, combined with experience in brand management and leading teams through transformation.

4. Managing the Website Launch

A critical aspect of the new Marketing Director’s role was to manage the launch of three new websites through an outsourced developer. This required exceptional project management skills to coordinate various stakeholders, including the outsourced developer, internal teams, and third-party vendors. The Marketing Director needed to:

• Define project scopes and timelines to ensure the launches met strategic deadlines.
• Set clear expectations and deliverables with the outsourced developer to prevent miscommunication and delays.
• Oversee the integration of marketing campaigns with the websites to maximize visibility and effectiveness at launch.

Additionally, maintaining quality and consistency across all platforms was essential. This involved ensuring each website reflected the brand’s identity, conducting regular reviews, and testing functionality and design before going live.

The use of an outsourced developer allowed the company to leverage external expertise and resources, enabling the Marketing Director to focus on strategic oversight rather than day-to-day development tasks. This flexibility was crucial in quickly adapting the websites to incorporate new features or marketing strategies based on real-time data and customer feedback.

5. Final Selection and Onboarding

After a final round of interviews with the senior leadership team, including the CEO and CFO, the company selected a candidate with a proven track record in transforming marketing operations within a large retail organisation. This individual had experience driving customer engagement through social media, loyalty programs, and personalisation techniques, along with extensive experience managing a brand with a rich heritage.

NorthCo played an active role in negotiating the offer and ensuring a smooth onboarding process, including setting performance benchmarks for the new Marketing Director’s first 100 days.

Outcome

The appointment of the new Marketing Director proved to be a turning point for the brand. Within six months, the company saw:

• A 25% increase in digital engagement, particularly through social media and email marketing channels.
• A revitalised marketing strategy, blending traditional campaigns with a strong digital focus.
• Successful launch of three new websites, which effectively targeted different customer segments and enhanced user experience.
• Increased market share among younger consumers, achieved through more targeted marketing and the use of data-driven insights.
• Improved internal alignment with other departments, as the marketing team began to work more collaboratively with sales and product development teams.

NorthCo’s approach in understanding the specific needs of the company, its culture, and the future direction of its marketing function ensured that the right leader was placed in a role crucial to the brand’s continued success.

Key Takeaways

• A deep understanding of the company’s vision and culture is critical to executive recruitment success.
• Blending traditional marketing expertise with modern, digital capabilities is essential for brands navigating evolving consumer habits.
• Effective management of outsourced resources is vital for delivering complex projects, such as website launches, on time and within budget.
• Recruiting for transformation roles requires a focus not only on skill set but on leadership and cultural alignment to drive sustained success.

NorthCo continues to support the leisure brand as they build on the success of this new direction, positioning themselves for future growth.

Case Study: Recruiting a Sales Director to Lead a National Field-Based Sales Team for AA Warranty Products

Overview

AA Warranty, a leading provider of vehicle warranty services across the UK, faced the need to revamp its national field-based sales strategy to improve business performance and drive sustainable growth. The company sought a new Sales Director to lead its national field-based sales team, comprised of both employed and independent regional sales representatives. The role required a leader who could manage a diverse and geographically dispersed team, restructure the sales approach, improve internal communication, and ultimately deliver a significant increase in sales.

Challenges

1. Diverse Sales Team Dynamics: The sales team was a blend of employed regional sales reps and independent agents, each with varying levels of engagement, motivation, and performance. Managing and aligning this diverse group presented a significant leadership challenge.
2. Strained Relationships: A lack of cohesion between the field sales team and head office had led to strained relationships, poor communication, and a disconnect in objectives, which in turn impacted performance.
3. Unstructured Sales Process: The absence of a clear, structured sales process led to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and a lack of accountability within the team. Sales reps were often working in silos, leading to inconsistency in customer engagement and follow-up.
4. Growth Stagnation: AA Warranty’s sales performance had plateaued, and there was a need for fresh leadership to instil motivation, sharpen the sales strategy, and implement changes that could drive both new account openings and improved revenue generation.

Objectives

• Recruit and onboard a high-calibre Sales Director with the leadership qualities and operational expertise to restructure and lead the national field sales team.
• Foster better collaboration and communication between the field sales team and head office.
• Implement a structured sales process to streamline efforts, improve performance, and ensure consistent communication with customers.
• Increase sales through new account openings and enhanced customer engagement.

Approach

1. Defining the Ideal Candidate

The recruitment process focused on identifying a candidate with proven experience in leading mixed regional teams, specifically within a field-based sales environment. They needed strong relationship-building skills to manage both employed and independent reps, an ability to align team members with strategic business goals, and experience implementing structured sales processes to improve efficiency and outcomes.

The desired Sales Director had to possess:

• A deep understanding of the automotive or similar industries.
• The ability to lead and motivate a remote team.
• Strong skills in relationship management, both with internal teams and external customers.
• Experience in introducing new products to market and improving sales performance through structured processes.

2. Restructuring the Sales Team

Upon recruiting the new Sales Director, the first priority was to reorganise the team. The Director conducted a thorough assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the employed reps and independent agents. This led to a strategic realignment where team members were assigned specific territories and target accounts based on their capabilities, ensuring better coverage and focus.

3. Building Relationships

One of the immediate initiatives undertaken by the new Sales Director was to improve relationships between the field-based reps and head office. This was achieved by:

• Hosting regular, monthly sales seminars to bring together field staff and head office personnel.
• Encouraging collaboration by inviting head office team members to join the Sales Director and regional reps on customer visits, promoting better understanding and alignment.
• Implementing open communication channels, where head office staff could offer support and feedback to the field team.

4. Introducing a Structured Sales Process

The Sales Director developed and rolled out a structured sales process that included:

• A focus on customer segmentation and targeted selling.
• Clearly defined KPIs and reporting systems for regional reps.
• The use of an independent outsourced appointment-setting agency to book meetings with new business prospects, ensuring that field reps had a steady stream of opportunities.
• Enhanced point-of-sale materials and sales training to improve the team’s ability to close deals.

5. Motivation and Incentives

The Sales Director also introduced new incentive structures to motivate the team. Sales targets were aligned with individual capabilities, and bonuses were offered not only for hitting targets but also for meeting qualitative goals such as customer engagement and product knowledge.

Results

Within six months of recruiting the new Sales Director and implementing the above strategies, AA Warranty saw significant improvements across several key metrics:

• Sales Growth: The company achieved double-digit sales growth, with a substantial increase in new account openings, particularly in underperforming regions.
• Improved Team Morale: The field-based sales reps reported higher job satisfaction due to clearer direction, better communication with head office, and the new incentive structures.
• Stronger Internal Alignment: Relationships between the sales team and head office were greatly improved. Head office personnel became more engaged in the field sales process and started to actively participate in customer-facing activities.
• Enhanced Sales Process: The structured sales process provided better visibility into the sales pipeline, improved forecasting accuracy, and increased the reps’ accountability.

Conclusion

The recruitment of the Sales Director for AA Warranty marked a turning point for the company’s field sales team. By selecting a leader with the right experience and expertise, AA Warranty was able to restructure its sales operations, improve internal collaboration, and deliver impressive sales growth in a relatively short time. The case highlights the importance of aligning team structure, communication, and process to create a cohesive and high-performing sales organisation.

Recruiting an MD for a Niche Automotive Firm

Challenge

A niche automotive firm, owned by a family office, required a Managing Director (MD) to steer the company’s strategic direction, operations, and growth initiatives. This presented several challenges:

1. Financial Strain: The previous management team had depleted a substantial portion of the allocated investment funds, necessitating the acquisition of additional capital to stabilise the company.
2. Broad Skillset Requirement: The ideal candidate needed to possess a wide-ranging skillset, including expertise in international sales, dealer development, service management, manufacturing, branding, and marketing.
3. Reputation Issues: Due to previous ownership, the company’s reputation had suffered, necessitating a compelling narrative to attract a high-calibre candidate to the role.

Solution

Trevor, our Managing Partner, utilised his renowned M.O.S.T format (Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tasks) to craft a detailed job description. This structured approach ensured a comprehensive understanding of the skills and experience required for the new MD. The process involved:

1. Mission: Define the overarching goal for the new MD – to revitalise the company’s market position and ensure sustainable growth.
2. Objectives: Outline specific, measurable goals, such as increasing market share, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing brand reputation.
3. Strategy: Develop strategic initiatives to achieve these objectives, focusing on expanding international sales, optimising dealer networks, and implementing robust marketing campaigns.
4. Tasks: Identify the day-to-day responsibilities, such as overseeing manufacturing processes, managing financial performance, and leading the executive team.

Recognising the difficulty of filling this role, we leveraged our extensive network to identify candidates both within the UK and UK nationals working overseas. We focused on individuals with a blend of automotive industry experience, leadership skills, and a proven track record in driving business growth.

Outcome

Within six weeks, we successfully placed an MD who was eager to return to the UK after years of contracting overseas. The chosen candidate brought a profound understanding of the automotive market and a successful history of leading similar companies to growth and profitability. The new MD’s strategic vision and operational expertise revitalised the company’s prospects, paving the way for significant performance improvements and long-term success.

The MD implemented a series of strategic initiatives that not only stabilised the financial situation but also improved the company’s reputation in the market. Through effective leadership and a clear strategic direction, the company experienced a resurgence in market confidence and operational efficiency, setting a solid foundation for future growth.

Client Testimonial

“In the world of family investment, not everything goes to plan. We faced a challenging situation with one of our investments, and I turned to Trev to help stabilise the business. From the outset, Trev displayed exceptional leadership and a clear understanding of our needs. He delivered on every objective and went above and beyond by recruiting a new Managing Director. Trev ensured a smooth transition, handing over the business in a stronger, more stable position. His expertise and dedication were invaluable to us during this critical period.”