Head of Investment - Empiric Student Property

Consultant: Hannah Taylor

Role: Head of Investment

Client: Empiric Student Property

Location: London

Salary: £100 -130k + bonus

Who are Empiric?

Empiric Student Property Plc specialise in investing in student accommodation. They have a long track record in the acquisition, development and management of student accommodation assets across the UK.

What was the situation?

Empiric Student Property are going through a period of growth, and required a Head of Investment to come in and join the Investment and Development team, to take some of the work-load away from the Head of property, and to help with managing the team and growing the portfolio.

​Were there any challenges?

As this was a brand-new role for the company, there was limited knowledge for the hiring team to base their requirements on. Although this possessed a challenge for Hannah, with thorough briefing and explaining, Hannah was able to build a suitable criterion for the clients’ needs. Another challenge during the process was the current issue of a candidate short market. A lot of prospective candidates were satisfied in their current role and most candidates preferred the stability their existing position provided.

What was the methodology?

This was a retained search and one of the first things Hannah did to find the ideal candidate was to find out what the ‘ideal candidate’ meant to Empiric. She sat down with the client to discuss what skills and characteristics were essential and which ones would be nice to have. After this, with the help of deverellsmith’s Data & Research specialists and LinkedIn, Hannah was able to map 148 people, 12 of those were interviewed by Hannah, which led to 5 candidates shortlisted and presented to Empiric. The hiring manager was so impressed with 2 of the candidates that they decided to focus solely on the duo; both candidates got through to final stage interviews.

What was the outcome?

After a difficult choice for the client, an offer was made, which was happily accepted by the candidate.