The challenge:

Our client, a British multinational retailer, was planning a £500 million cost reduction programme across the business, creating four new positions in a restructuring of its Procurement function to deliver this. They had utilised their internal Talent function to no avail so invited us to present our experience in both the Procurement space, as well as for niche, executive talent from the Strategy world. We were soon engaged to recruit for four key positions, including the newly created roles of Head of Procurement Strategy & Delivery and Global Head of Sourcing.

Our solution:

The strength of our senior Procurement network is second to none so there was no need to map the market – all roles were sourced exclusively from our network at speed. Five candidates were shortlisted and presented for each role, with two from each progressing to the interview rounds, who were subsequently offered and accepted successfully. Our knowledge of the market and the strength of our network from the outset reassured our client, with the quality of our candidate submissions underlining this.

The outcome:

• The four key executive Procurement roles were filled on time with exceptional candidates that our client couldn’t find elsewhere

• The speed of our turnaround meant that the team was in position before COVID-19 and set the business up to deliver the positive results they have seen throughout this crisis

• The hiring client was delighted with the outcome and has since been appointed to the CIPS Power List, thanks in part to this project

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