Recruitment of a Group CFO
c£32m
Company size
Management Consultancy
Sector
150
Employees
Brief
CIL is an international management consultancy specialising in growth strategy and M&A support. It has operations in the UK, US and Germany and a team of ~150 across the group and a 2022 t/o of c£32m.
CIL were looking to appoint a new Group CFO to take over from Laura Robertson, who was retiring after over 20 years with the business. As well as finding someone with the technical skills to replace Laura, CIL were looking for international expertise (having recently opened offices in Chicago and Munich) and experience operating in a scaled business.
Search Parameters
Laura and John were able to give us a very precise brief, and what came though very clearly was the importance of values fit. In addition, CIL were keen to identify a CFO with similar sector experience, international exposure, and the intellect to provide constructive challenge to a highly capable Executive and Non-Executive Board. One final consideration was the need for domestic and international travel.
The assignment required a degree of confidentiality, as Laura’s retirement hadn’t been announced internally, so during the search we did very little advertising and relied on our networking and search skills. Our referral network was particularly helpful for this brief, as it meant we could get in touch with people who weren’t actively looking for a new role.
“This was a really crucial hire for CIL and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome – we’re grateful to the CMA Executive team for introducing us to Paul and helping us navigate the process.”
John Gibbons
HR Director
Outcome
We were all aligned in ensuring a successful outcome, and in addition to the weekly update on progress CMA Executive provided, both Laura and John made sure they were readily available if there were any specific questions or queries that came up during the candidate pre-screening.
As discussions with Paul progressed, it became apparent that he would be great ‘fit’ with CIL. Not only did he fit the criteria set out in the brief, but more importantly his values and behaviours were very closely aligned to CIL. An appointment was made and CIL have commented that they couldn't be happier with the outcome.
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