Blog Img

Group Finance Manager - BTR Developer

Back to insights

Consultant: Joseph Morris 

Role: Group Finance Manager 

Client: BTR Developer

Location: Hertfordshire 

What was the situation?

Joseph had a meeting with the client initially to discuss the market, and they mentioned they were looking to replace someone in their team that was due to leave their position in the next couple of months. 

Not only is the present market condition incredibly competitive and candidate short, but the company was also located in a tricky area outside of Central London. Due to this, Jospeh discussed the idea of mapping the market and taking a retained approach to fill the role. 

Following the discussion, the client decided to take a different approach and spent a month resourcing internally through several different agencies. Through this, they found that they weren’t generating the calibre of candidates they wanted to and then agreed to retain deverellsmith on the search and disengage the other agencies.

Were there any challenges?

One of the most significant challenges that Joseph faced when recruiting for this role was the fact that the company was located outside of Central London, meaning the candidate pool was smaller than usual. 

Furthermore, given the nature of the company, they needed a candidate who had both relevant property experience and a strong technical background. They needed someone who would be able to join the team and hit the ground running.

What was the methodology?

It was important for Joseph to meet with the CFO, Head of Financial Reporting and the Financial Controller, as they were the key stakeholders the candidate would have exposure to within their role. Meeting in person allowed Joseph to assess their individual preferences in terms of the candidate profile and requisites they were looking for.

Following this, Joseph engaged deverellsmith’s Data and Research team to map the market and assess potential candidates based on where their company is based and where they lived. From this, Joseph approached 45 people that he felt fit the clients brief on paper. 

What was the outcome?

After meeting the final short-list of 6 people, the client expressed that the top two candidates were so strong that they could have given an offer to either one of them. The client ended up with exactly what they were looking for and Joseph has since received positive feedback from both the client and candidate.

Email: joseph.morris@deverellsmith.com

Phone: 020 3056 0285