Case Studies Back to case studies

Owing to our reputation in the sector, the Group CEO of a leading professional services firm specialising in the built environment approached Bailey Montagu to support the acquisition of a CEO for their largest geographical region – the UK & Ireland. The remit was to lead and grow a business of 2,000 staff spanning twelve clusters – including project and program management; design and development; water services; advisory and management consulting; exploration and development; planning and approvals; training and communication and creative services – and to push the brand higher up the value chain with existing and new customers.

The role was created after separating the UK & Ireland from the European business and was designed to enhance the value add and proximity to its biggest client audience. It was therefore imperative that the search focused on individuals with a strong brand presence in the UK & Ireland market, and who intuitively understood how to build for growth against the drivers and need of the local built environment sector. As part of the separation, there would also be a need to build out a new leadership structure and team and galvanise a more progressive and transformative culture throughout the business.

From the outset of the search activity, we looked to leverage our network within the client domain to establish the business leaders that they rated highest and who were regarded for being the most authentic and progressive. We took care to verify this data through soft referencing of peers, seniors and team members, to establish a longlist of individuals who could deliver both commercially and culturally in this environment.

Having engaged, attracted, and qualified a diverse candidate audience, we quickly shortlisted to a group of four individuals for interview with the Group CEO located in the Asia Pac region. Following an iterative process, in which two candidates progressed to business plan presentation, our client secured the hire of a seasoned CEO from a direct competitor organisation. Since the conclusion of this process, we have supported the UK & Ireland CEO in the appointment of three hires to his leadership team.