Managing Director - Ruston's Engineering Company – UK

Scenario

Page Executive was approached to recruit a managing director for this family owned and managed engineering business. With the incumbent managing director promoted to chairman, this was a very important hire for the business as it represented the first external senior appointment since the organisation's inception.

Solution

To source the right person for our client we needed to understand their business, culture and primary drivers. When we had established a thorough understanding of the organisation, we decided that the best approach to the market would be a hybrid of search and selection.

We were contacting professionals within a defined list of organisations but we had to be sensitive, whether tapping into the network or making a direct approach, to how small this market was. We also advertised the role online and in the Daily Telegraph and were soon in a position to present a shortlist of six candidates with a range of skills and experience.

Outcome

Three candidates were progressed to the final interview stage and the board appointed a new managing director soon afterwards.

Client Testimonial

Clearly for a family company which has had the same managing director for approaching 30 years, recruiting a suitable replacement was not something we had experienced before. It was therefore vital that we found a recruitment company and recruitment executive who took the trouble to understand our business and its culture, and to steer us through the whole process culminating in a successful appointment.

Both I and our board were very impressed with the way in which you handled the whole assignment, from the initial meeting to the presentation of the final shortlist, and would like to thank you for your professionalism throughout. Out of the several hundred applicants, you presented us with a shortlist of candidates with differing attributes, who nevertheless all shared one theme – they were all capable of doing the job concerned.

We believe that we have appointed a first class managing director as a result of your efforts, and my fellow directors join me in thanking you for the key role you played in the whole process. We would have no hesitation in strongly recommending you and Page Executive to any company seeking to recruit a business executive.

- Richard Ruston, chairman