Financial Controller – North West London

Consultant: Joseph Morris

Role: Financial Controller

Location: Northwest London

What was the situation?

Joseph’s client had had someone manage their accounts team for the last 15 years. Due to their retirement, the client wanted to up-grade the skill set of the role rather than finding a straightforward replacement.

They came to Joseph as they wanted a proficient, qualified accountant, with experience in SME construction companies and with proven capability managing small finance functions. Their new hire was a crucial one, as it would facilitate the overarching growth plans for the business.

Were there any challenges?

The key challenge that Joseph faced was that the location of the role was in Northwest London, which can be tricky to get to. This meant that there was a smaller pool of candidates for Joseph to target for his client.

Furthermore, the candidate had to have a proven track record of introducing and implementing their own systems and processes, which narrowed down the pool of suitable candidates even further.

What was the methodology?

Joseph conducted a retained search to identify any candidates with relevant experience within real estate, development, and construction businesses.

Given the hands-on nature of the role, it was imperative that Joseph was able to meet with each candidate to assess their suitability and personality fit with the managing director and CFO, before sending over the short list.

Once Joseph had sent them a short list, with notes assessing them against the agreed criteria set out by the client, they then interviewed 3 candidates of their choice to interview.

What were the results?

They selected their preferred candidate following the interview process, given the candidates locality and desire to work for a growing SME business, we were able to secure the candidate at a budget within the client’s original expectation.

We managed the offer process, and both the client and candidate were happy with the outcome, we have since received very positive feedback on his performance to date.