Group Financial Officer, Financial Controller -

Who is the company?

Westcombe Group is a leading London property developer, creating contemporary, luxurious homes and commercial properties of exceptional design and specification. Established for over 50 years, since the firm’s first acquisition of property on Westcombe Hill back in the ‘70s, which was beautifully restored to create a row of elegant mews houses.

The business has seen great success over the years and as a result has rapidly grown. The person who was currently in the Financial Controller role, was not able to progress at the speed the business was scaling and so, a Group Financial Controller was required to lead a finance function for the new larger business and spearhead business growth. This role was the number one in finance within the business and support in strategic decision making was essential.

Were there any challenges?

Due to the urgency of the search and specific requirements, the project was a retained assignment to ensure both parties were fully committed to the partnership and the end goal.

The location of the office provided a challenge due to restricted transport links and being located outside of zones 1-2 – the most desirable areas by majority of the talent pool.

Westcombe Group had specific requirements and due to the broad nature of the business the chosen candidate needed a very diverse skillset. Time was against the team, the role required to be filled urgently to respond to the influx of work activity within the business.

What was the methodology?

Harnessing deverellsmith’s data and research team, over 200 potential targets were mapped and identified who possessed the desired experience, attributes and knowledge that met the specific requirements of the client.

After a thorough analysis, Joseph Morris and his team were able to make an initial longlist of 25 candidates, before conducting interviews with the final 15 who were interviewed by project lead, Joseph Morris.

What was the outcome?

The right candidate was found in 2 weeks and was able to start 1 month later, which was before the set timeframe agreed.

Kamal Pankhania, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive at Westcombe Group, commented “We asked Joseph Morris at deverellsmith whom I have known and built a excellent relationship over the last 5 years to head-hunt for a new Group Financial group controller. This assignment was taken with great detail, coming to my office discussing what we wanted and the specification and the candidate type. Within 7 days we had received a short list of 4 candidates and within 2 weeks after 2 extensive interviews we selected our chosen candidate.The chosen candidate was of great quality and very talented compared to the others. Very technical and someone who will be able to rise to every challenge given to him as he only been with us for the last 5 days. We are very pleased with DS as we have also recruited a top-level property manager as well.”