Headhunting a Non-Executive Director for a leading UK not-for-profit energy organisation

Following a period of stagnation, our client was looking to appoint a Non-Executive Director to help their current Leadership Team develop a growth transformation strategy.

Client Need

As a major not-for-profit energy supplier to the UK market, our client was looking to embark upon an ambitious 10-year growth strategy and required an experienced Non-Executive Director to help them develop the transformation plan. 

The existing Leadership Team had overseen the successful launch of the business but now required additional support to make the significant jump to the next level of growth. 

Major Challenge

The main obstacle we needed to address was the fact our client was a not-for-profit organisation. Our extensive previous experience of finding Non-Executive Directors for charities and not-for-profit organisations meant we knew we would be facing a much narrower pool of talent to choose from as many suitable candidates preferred more commercial enterprises. 

Assignment Delivery

Despite the potential issues with finding candidates, we felt the nature of our client’s organisation and the sector they were in, as well as their ambitious future plans, would make their Non-Executive Director role very attractive. 

As such, a critical part of our search process entailed a really engaging candidate pack and client video to help demonstrate and convey the exciting opportunity. 

Our meticulous search methodology ensured we identified suitable candidates across a broad range of sectors including both commercial and not-for-profit. The initial focus was on individuals with experience of growth within the energy sector, but we also widened the search to incorporate sectors where we might find suitable individuals with key transferrable skills. This included the telecoms and technology sectors. 

Successful Outcome

Our client was delighted with the selection of candidates we presented them with at the shortlist interview stage. It incorporated a number of existing commercial Non-Executive Directors who were keen to expand their portfolio to include an exciting growth opportunity that this role presented. 

Ultimately, our client appointed an individual with a substantial background in the energy and telecoms sectors, who was looking to add a not-for-profit organisation to their portfolio of clients. They had taken a number of organisations through significant growth stages, including two as a Non-Executive Director, so were really well placed to support our client’s Leadership Team to achieve their transformation objectives.