Planning Director
Client:
Position:
Sector:
Having recently appointed the regional CEO for a leading professional services firm specialising in the built environment, Bailey Montagu was enlisted to support the acquisition of a Planning Director to double the size of their business across London and the South East.
The successful candidate must have a wide range of contacts with development responsibility in the London and South East region, in both the public and private sector, and be able to support these to leverage growth. They would need carry the gravitas to lead internally and externally to position our client as the leading development consultancy in the territory, striking the right balance between social, environmental, and commercial needs where land resources continue to become more constrained.
Our focus for the search campaign was to network with the client audience for our client to establish the names that carried most resonance in the market. Added to this, it would be important that the candidate demonstrated strategic and commercial leadership skills, able to manage a complex P&L and to grow and manage a diverse team.
Though the net was cast wide for the likely organisations where the successful candidate could currently be domiciled, our engagement with the market led us to narrow the search to five or six priority candidates, of which we managed to engage four for interview with the CEO and MD of Planning. It soon became clear that the client was narrowing in on two individuals and, notwithstanding the complexities of the pandemic and the moving landscape with restrictions, we were able to secure half-day face-to-face meetings with the CEO and his leadership team for both candidates in a formal setting, and an informal dinner with the preferred candidate, ultimately expediting the outcome and successful hire.
