Accounting & Finance

Hydrogen has been at the forefront of the Finance recruitment since 1997. Back then, the main problem for our clients was a saturated market, lacking qualified commercial talent, and one-size-fits-all recruitment agencies that didn’t understand the world of Finance and the candidates required. The only other options were internal recruiters or HR functions, who equally had a lack of specialist knowledge to find the right talent. Many Finance functions were also finding it difficult to mobilise resources to cover busy periods and their permanent workforce lacked specialist expertise to deliver finance change effectively. We entered the market with a team of consultants with direct experience, many being part or qualified accountants, passionate about the space, and ready to dispel the stereotypes associated with recruitment and do things better, faster and from an informed perspective.

More than two decades later, Finance is no longer a back-office function, but the breeding ground for future business leaders. Accountants now act as business partners, driving revenue, analysing Big Data, embracing technology, and focusing on the commercial side of their businesses. Candidates can aim for the CEO role and, as such, demand varied challenges to keep their career on track, making retention tough for our clients. Digital transformation and AI have brought new skillsets to the role, with the best candidates highly sought after.

With Finance roles becoming more complex and Finance professionals moving frequently to achieve their career aspirations, it has become much harder to retain permanent staff. Demand for interim talent has increased to ensure strategy and growth remains on track, particularly for those candidates with technical skill sets who can embrace digital advances in areas such as AI or Big Data.

By giving companies access to interim Finance change specialists with niche industry skills and cross-functional capability, we help our clients deliver change more effectively.

We know that hiring the right commercially minded people in Finance is business critical and leaves a lasting impression in today’s evolving workplace. Over the years, we have built long-term relationships with our clients, acting as an extension to their brand, to fully understand their needs and their Finance function structure, sell their proposition, and to partner with them to help drive their growth plans and increase their competitive footprint. We are never complacent in our service levels and use Net Promoter Score to drive customer satisfaction.

​Key features:

• We source and secure high calibre talent using innovative, customised search methods

• On-off flexibility to suit your needs

• We can deliver a “full package” from resourcing high-quality candidate to contactor care and compliance

• Ongoing brand awareness campaigns via our headhunting schemes

• Weekly or bi-weekly meetings to discuss progress, candidates, and feedback

Why you’ll love it:

• We can accommodate the differing needs of your business over time

• Long term support and advice on your talent management strategy

• Easier to compare the quality of candidates across the market, so you can make more informed decisions

• Option to request a search for a specific role or to be kept regularly informed of relevant people becoming available in your market

• No commitment to hire unless you really like a candidate

Key features:

• Flexible pricing options to suit your needs: our standard rate card provides a clear and transparent pricing structure

• Access to our global community of contractors with cutting edge expertise

• On average, our contractors are onboarded in just nine days and extended seven times, with the average tenure being 22 months

• All contractors are pre-screened and vetted as requested

• An experienced account team for the project duration and a dedicated account manager to provide a single point of contact

Why you’ll love it:

• Ability to rapidly ramp up and scale down resources as required

• Cost-efficient way to run projects without compromising on quality

• Full support to resource your projects across multiple verticals and geographic locations

• Minimal overall impact to your hiring manager community and current resources

• We can onboard the best talent quickly, speeding up your delivery and return on investment

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​Key features:

• One specialist point of contact at Hydrogen

• Using innovative, customised search methods, we source and secure the market’s best talent

• Searches conducted by a consultant and dedicated research team, to ensure a thorough search and all relevant candidates in the market are spoken to

• Weekly updates on the search

• Flexible rates depending on the role requirements

Why you’ll love it:

• Save time having to manage different agencies and numerous points of contact

• More control over your brand message in the market as candidates don’t get approached multiple times for the same role

• Receive better quality candidates for the role, as we’re not simply in a race to find the best people, which is often detrimental to the thoroughness and quality of a search

• More cost effective than a non-exclusive solution

Key features:

• Fully bespoke from a location, skill set and seniority perspective

• Our dedicated research function will provide lists of active and passive candidate communities within a specific market

• We can also provide current market trends, competitor analysis and brand perception surveys

• Proactive and organic for quick access and use

Why you’ll love it:

• Better awareness of the candidate pools available in your market

• Increased awareness of your employer brand to help you stand out from the crowd

• Benchmark your talent strategy against the most effective in the market

• Successfully headhunt direct competition to your business

• Arms you with the information you need to make a business case on your talent requirements

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Key features:

• More cost-effective end-to-end solutions, compared to bigger consultancies, because we have direct access to the talent

• Our pool of trusted advisors, Delivery Assurance Directors (DADs), ensure every part of your project is optimised to ensure success

• Dedicated project delivery team

• On-going administration and compliance management

• Regular progress review meetings

• Project off-boarding and IP transfer

Why you’ll love it:

• Direct access to the best talent in the market, built up over 20 years

• Average savings of 36% against leading consultancies

• A completely personalised solution for your unique needs

• A scalable solution that's swift to implement, so you can ramp up and down quickly

• Guaranteed knowledge transfers to you can maintain BAU

• On-site dedicated service and programme management led by industry-leading specialists (DADs)

​Key features:

• You have one specialist point of contact at Hydrogen

• Using innovative, customised search methods, we source and secure the market’s best talent

• Searches conducted by a consultant and dedicated research team, to ensure a thorough search and all relevant candidates in the market are spoken to

• Weekly updates on your search

• Option to conduct market mapping and report on your brand perception in the market

• Staggered pricing solutions, in line with different hiring phases

Why you’ll love it:

• You gain preferred access to the best pools of active and passive candidates in your market

• Working exclusively with us, we will control your message in the market and promote your brand successfully

• We’ll work to tighter deadlines due to the increased resources that can be committed to the search

• Ability to spread the cost across a number of weeks or months

The challenge:

A leading UK retail Financial Services organisation had a clear vision for their Finance function but considered its existing team to lack the aptitude to drive towards this vision. It wanted to recruit a cohort of high calibre individuals who would transform the capability of the team, but had no faith in its PSL of recruitment agencies so we were engaged directly by the COO, Finance and the Head of Executive Recruitment to hire up to 15 individuals into roles at E, F & G level grades covering core finance and finance change disciplines into multiple UK offices.

Our solution:

In addition to being experienced Financial Services practitioners and possessing the core skillsets and experience for each role, each candidate needed to demonstrate both a current career trajectory and the potential to progress by two grades in the next three years. We deployed a multi-channel sourcing strategy then held assessment days across several UK locations to appraise candidates. This stage formed our long list, then from that candidates were invited to assessment centres for interviews with the hiring managers.

The outcome:

• In total, the client made offers to 19 candidates, of which 16 accepted positions.

• This was one more hire than the project had been originally scoped for, however, the client was so impressed by the calibre of the candidates that they decided to increase the headcount.

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The challenge:

A rapidly expanding US business was referred to us and we were tasked with supplying continuous interim support while they grew their London Finance function from 1 to 30 over a three-year period. We were given exclusivity on the project due to our excellent reputation in the market. The challenge was to quickly source talent at every level so that the business could operate at a high level from day one.

Our solution:

We met with individual hiring managers to fully understand the strategy, brand and team involved. They had limited time for interviews, so shortlists needed to be 1-2 candidates who exactly fitted the brief, were available immediately and had long-term potential. We quickly assembled a pipeline of relevant candidates at all levels of the Finance function who were ready to be working within a week and managed the hiring process carefully to ensure a maximum acceptance rate and maintain the talent flow.

The outcome:

• We delivered 30 interim hires over the course of three years, filling positions from part-qualified accountants up to interim financial controllers and strong technical accountants.

• 11 of the interims converted into permanent staff.

• Our successful development of the new finance team was instrumental in a successful IPO and in managing growth of $100 million turnover to $650million turnover.

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The challenge:

Following several acquisitions, our client, a multinational provider of serviced offices, wanted to establish a common management leadership structure, comprising a General Manager, a Chief Financial Officer, and a Chief Marketing Officer, in each of its Continental European operations. It had engaged local recruitment agencies but was unhappy with the quality of candidates, so wanted a specialist who could deliver. We were mandated to hire the CFO and the CMO roles for six of the countries, with the desired candidates to ideally come from blue-chip retail backgrounds in each market.

Our solution:

Our team conducted a full search of the agreed target retailers in each of the cities that the roles would be located, supported by a comprehensive online advertising campaign. Individuals that met the criteria were interviewed over video and a shortlist of five was presented for each role. We then managed the next stage interview process and the offer process to ensure the successful candidates could exit well and handle any counter offers.

The outcome:

• We successfully filled six CFO positions and four CMO roles within eight weeks of being mandated.

• The roles we did not fill were given to candidates either referred by local staff or to individuals who were already known to the local General Managers.

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