Chief Commercial Officer (MD Designate – 2022)

Owner-Managed SME in a niche high growth sector, c£10m t/o, team of 50 with plans to double turnover within the next 5 years.

THE BRIEF

Our brief was to find a Chief Commercial Officer / Managing Director designate that would enable the current Owner/MD to focus on the strategic agenda and alleviate the operational pressure on their shoulders. The successful appointee would also drive commercial projects, further growth and ultimately build to some form of exit.

More than a straight-forward hire, this was a business opportunity for the incoming incumbent and therefore this was brand new territory for the owner. We therefore spent a considerable amount of time at the briefing and consultation stage before going to market with finding a selection of highly qualified candidates.

THE PROCESS

We took a hybrid approach to hiring the position, which involved a well-positioned advert with The Guardian online, together with a headhunting approach across the UK, based on the company’s core vertical sector area of expertise.

The interviewing process was extensive. King Executive conducted rigorous competency based interviews at shortlisting stage, together with undertaking DISC profiling.

A short-list of 5 candidates was presented to our client and we conducted a debriefing session. A 4 stage interview process ensued, ending with a business plan presentation in the latter stages, with ‘meet the team’ followed by meeting the Owner a further two times to discuss how the relationship would work best.

The King Executive Method, our bespoke 4-step leadership assessment programme was applied to the search to ensure rigour in our approach.

THE RESULT

The successful candidate was chosen for their comprehensive and proven background in driving significant growth and revenue within their previous business, their pragmatism, commerciality, culture fit and most of all, their drive to be involved in building a business to an eventual end point.

The whole process from start to finish took 12 weeks.