Group General Counsel & Company Secretary Recruitment: Case Study
Background
Our client is a UK-based safety products and services business helping companies in various industries to maintain the health and safety of their staff and customers.
We were recommended to the company’s CFO by the existing Group General Counsel shortly after his resignation, in order to back-fill the position.
As with the present incumbent, the company required an individual to take on the role of both General Counsel and Company Secretary, with responsibility for contracts, governance, risk and compliance, and a team of both internal and external professionals assisting in these four areas.
Challenge
The present incumbent had originally joined the company as their first in-house lawyer and had been with business for 5 years, presiding over a significant period of both organisational and cultural change. The business required an individual who would be able to maintain the strong corporate governance structure that he had helped to create, and with the gravitas to influence strategic decision making. However, more importantly, owing to the excellent relationships that the current GC had developed with directors and shareholders, he was not being required to serve the full 6-month notice period that would ordinarily be required from senior executives. This increased the level of urgency and turned the project into one suitable for an interim lawyer who would not be required to serve a long notice period and could potentially start immediately.
Candidates did not need to have experience in the same industry, provided they had broad experience as a general counsel or head of legal in another private company; the versatility to oversee a small team; and be available quickly.
Solution
Given our experience at this level and particularly in the local market, the client gave us an exclusive mandate on our recommendation. We immediately commenced dialogue with a small number of relevant individuals we knew well and who were either coming to the end of fixed-term contracts, being made redundant or returning from a career break. Fortunately, the quality of candidates was excellent and the client shared our confidence that a shortlist of three individuals would be sufficient to make at least an interim appointment quickly.
Following a two-stage process an interim appointment was made in just over a fortnight, with the appointee becoming the permanent Group General Counsel after an initial period of 6 months.
