The UK’s leading executive search firm has announced a record breaking year for its Welsh office following growth in demand for business leaders and a number of new appointments.
Odgers Berndston, which specialises in finding the highest calibre people to fill executive and non-executive positions for both private and public sector organisations, experienced its most successful year in 2014-2015 since establishing a fully staffed office in Cardiff in 2008.
The 12 month period saw Odgers, which is the only blue chip organisation with executive search offices outside of London, increase sales by 30% ahead of forecast and 56% ahead of the previous year. The Wales office enjoys the highest completion rate of any UK office at 95% (remaining roles were cancelled) as it guarantees to appoint.
For every assignment, the Welsh team works closely with a network of 200 consultants and 50 researchers across eight UK offices (or internationally across their 52 offices in 26 countries) to ensure candidates are selected both locally and from across the UK. 80% of Odgers Wales’ clients are repeat clients; testament to the company’s outstanding reputation and continued success.
Jemma Terry, Managing Partner of the Odgers Wales Practice said: “We are extremely proud of our results last year. The economic slowdown in China in particular, has driven a greater demand for leaders who are capable of stepping up to face challenges directly in a world of pace, transformation and disruption.
“Our Odgers team understand Wales, the political landscape, the culture of our nation and its appeal as a destination of choice to the executive market. As almost 50% of our placements last year came from outside Wales, we place significant importance on our ability to fully network across the UK and internationally. The senior talent pipeline is mobile, the size of this pool is shrinking and to sustain economic recovery, sourcing the very best global talent is key.
“In this way we are working in partnership with clients to contribute to the revitalized and vibrant economy here in Wales.”
Odgers, which relocated to its Callaghan Square office 18 months ago, made several key appointments towards the end of last year including Mair Barron as Consultant, Dr. Marc Pollentine as Associate Consultant, Mark Philpott as Researcher and Lisa Thomas as Personal Assistant to Jemma Terry.
Ms. Barron has a wealth of experience in senior recruitment from her 30 years in the Welsh market in Hays Specialist Recruitment where she was Regional Director and latterly CPS Group UK, where she was Business Development Director. Mr. Philpott has joined the team as a Researcher having recently completed his MA and BA History at the University of Exeter. Ms. Thomas joins from Target Group and will ensure that all projects run smoothly and in line with the very high standards of quality and compliance. In addition, Dr. Pollentine has been promoted from Senior Researcher to Associate Consultant to reflect his outstanding contribution to the team.
Ms. Terry continued: “Our strategy is to continue to grow organically in Wales and this involves hiring great talent ourselves.
“I am delighted to welcome Mair, Lisa and Mark to our team. By investing in strong new talent in Wales and developing our existing team internally we are now better placed than ever to deliver the highest quality of service to more clients in Wales and ensure we continue to fill the most challenging of briefs where there is a severe shortage of available talent.
“Almost 75% of assignments in 2014-2015 were completed as a result of proactive searching by our team rather than from adverts, which is further evidence of our specialist skills and knowledge within the industry.”