Chief of Staff - Knight Dragon

Knight dragon is the owner of Greenwich Peninsula, the largest regen scheme in London of circa 19mi sqft. Their vision is to create a destination like no other comprising a full mix of real estate assets, world class design and to deliver a cultural revolution like no other.

deverellsmith facilitated a fresh thinking talent search powered by its data and research team after an initial consultation between the two firms. The early stages of the project unveiled the need for a senior leadership restructure and highlighted the importance for a Chief of Staff to drive dynamic company change.

The project required deverellsmith to identify a very rare and specific set of skills and experience within the target candidates. Andrew Deverell-Smith, deverellsmith CEO, Founder and Executive Search lead, propelled a 10-week campaign to approach, assess and secure the successful candidate alongside the board of Knight Dragon.

The search was successfully completed over just 14 weeks from concept to completion during the first lockdown of the 2020 pandemic, adding a unique complexity to a challenging assignment.

Knight Dragon outsource the company’s HR department through Cajun HR Services, which is managed by Jenny Smallman, company director.

Steven Yewman, Chief of Staff, commented “The initial conversations with thedeverellsmith team were very informative and demonstrated they had a clear understanding of the candidate requirements. Their continued support through the interview process helped me land my new position and I’m grateful for the follow-on calls from Andrew to check everything is going to plan.”

Jenny Smallman, Director at Cajun HR Services – Knight Dragon partner, commented “Andrew and the team at deverellsmith seemed the natural and trusted choice for this role. Clear communication, a great candidate short list led to interesting interviews with intriguing people from a range of inspiring backgrounds.”

Andrew Deverell-Smith, deverellsmith CEO and Founder, commented “deverellsmith has been a trusted partner of Knight Dragon for many years, we act not only as ambassadors for the firm but embody their values, culture and way of working in all searches assigned. Knight Dragon has a brilliant leadership team and invest not only in their people but all contributing factors to why they stay within their role.”