Executive Search
Three Executive Appointments for a Leading UK Retailer, With £187,500+ in Fees Avoided
Five services, three executive appointments and at least £187,500 saved against percentage search fees
5 service lines used |
3 executive hires at £250k+ |
£187,500+ in search fees avoided |
|---|
A leading UK retailer with several well-known brands used every Talent Acumen service line, across nine departments and at board level, and appointed three executives on packages of £250,000 or more each: a People Director, a Chief Information Officer and a Director of Technology. A standard 25% search fee on those three roles alone would have cost at least £187,500.
At a glance
| Client | A leading UK retailer with several well-known brands |
|---|---|
| Services used | Talent mapping, approach only, end-to-end search, pipelining and market insight |
| Departments supported | Nine areas: the Board, People, Technology and Digital, Transformation, Buying and Product, Design, Supply Chain and Sourcing, Customer and Loyalty, and Sustainability. Over 20 roles so far across its brands and central services |
| Board-level work | Two independent non-executive appointments (the group Audit and Risk Committee and the financial services board) and a specialist Technology, Data and AI Committee |
| Headline appointments | People Director, Chief Information Officer, Director of Technology |
| Salary level | £250,000+ base for each of the three roles |
| Fee model | Transparent day rate, not a percentage of salary |
| Fees avoided on the three roles | At least £187,500 against a 25% search fee |
The brief
The retailer was rethinking its structure after changes to its operating model. It needed senior leaders in People and Technology who could partner each brand directly, and it needed to understand the market before committing to a design. Several of the roles were newly created and not yet announced, and one was becoming vacant through an internal move that was not public.
Rather than hand each role to a separate headhunter on a percentage fee, the client used Talent Acumen as a single research partner, choosing the right service for each piece of work.
The challenge
Confidentiality. Two new People roles could not be named until an internal announcement, and the CIO vacancy was not common knowledge. Every first approach had to be made without naming the client.
Briefs that moved. The technology brief for one of its brands shifted from an infrastructure focus to broader platform, architecture and cloud experience once the first market conversations came back.
A question of whether the person existed. The client wanted to test whether a leader combining retail, platforms, transformation and data experience was available at all, before fixing the role.
Heavyweight roles. The CIO would bring the technology budgets of both brands together and lead around 800 people and almost 2,000 outsourced providers.
The cost of senior search. With three roles at £250,000 or more, percentage-based fees would have run well into six figures.
Five services, one partner
The client used all five of our service lines, across nine departments, from the board down, and for both of its brands.
| Service | What we did for the client |
|---|---|
| Talent mapping | Mapped retail people leaders with business partnering backgrounds across its brands. Mapped more than 40 senior technology leaders for the brand technology role, then around ten more when the brief broadened, shared as slide decks for the hiring team. |
| Approach only | Approached 25 senior technology leaders from the client's own list under NDA for the CIO role, then identified and approached further names of our own. |
| End-to-end search | Ran the People Director search from anonymous first calls through NDA, screening, client briefing and interview, with weekly updates to the hiring team. |
| Pipelining | Tracked around 50 senior technology leaders for the CIO search, recording status and notes for each, and kept strong candidates warm for future roles. |
| Market insight | Researched how five major UK retailers structure IT, digital, data and transformation leadership, including reporting lines and where the digital P&L sits, and gathered package information to help set salaries. |
Board-level appointments
The work reached the boardroom too. Talent Acumen supported three board-level mandates, using mapping, insight and confidential approaches to reach a very different market from executive search.
| Mandate | What it involved | How we helped |
|---|---|---|
| Independent non-executive member, group Audit and Risk Committee | An independent seat on the committee overseeing the group's annual report and accounts, external and internal audit, and risk management and internal control. Around 15 days and five meetings a year, on a three-year term | Searched for a qualified accountant, most likely a serving or former CFO, with audit committee exposure, cyber and data risk experience and an understanding of consumer and digital channels. Retail experience was not required, which opened the search to finance leaders across sectors. |
| Independent Non-Executive Director, financial services arm | The final seat on a four-person statutory board for a newly formed, FCA-regulated subsidiary, meeting around six times a year | Mapped around 30 candidates in two weeks, grouped into retail and consumer leaders, consumer leaders with regulated product experience, and traditional financial services as a back-up. Ran a second round of mapping alongside advertising and approaches, adding chief marketing and chief customer profiles |
| Technology, Data and AI Committee | Four specialist advisers for a new committee giving the board expert challenge on technology, data and AI, meeting three or four times a year | Mapped CTOs, chief architects, consultancy leaders and academics. Produced insight on the UK's leading university clusters in AI, supply chain analytics and responsible AI. Refined the shortlist to the strongest 10 to 15 within hours for the hiring manager's review |
Finance depth from any sector. For the group committee, retail experience was not required, so we looked across sectors for finance leaders who also understood consumers, digital channels and cyber risk.
A different kind of candidate. The financial services board wanted retail and customer leaders rather than lifelong bankers, to bring customer focus to a board already strong in financial services.
Advisers, not full NEDs. Committee members advise rather than sit as statutory directors, so we targeted senior people building portfolio careers, from former Office of the CTO leaders at major technology firms to leading academics in AI ethics and supply chain machine learning.
Conflicts checked early. Candidates working with competing retailers, or at consultancies with retail clients, were flagged so the client could decide before any approach.
The three headline appointments
| Role | Department | Our services | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| People Director | People | Mapping, end-to-end search | Appointed |
| Chief Information Officer | Technology (central services) | Approach only, pipelining | Appointed |
| Director of Technology | Technology (brand) | Mapping, approach, insight, search | Appointed |
People Director
A newly created role, one of two senior business partnering posts reporting to the Chief People Officer and partnering a brand Managing Director, with up to six senior people partners reporting in. The client wanted a commercial, advisory leader from retail rather than an operational HR background.
Because the role could not be announced, we started with anonymous calls to mapped candidates, issued NDAs only to those of interest, and widened the mapping in parallel. We reported progress to the hiring team each week, keeping to a plan that ran from first approach to interviews within about six weeks.
Chief Information Officer
The vacancy arose from an internal move that was not yet public, so every approach was made under NDA. The CIO would run central services such as service desk, networks and infrastructure, partner support functions including a finance team in the middle of transformation, and bring the technology budgets of both brands together.
We approached the 25 names on the client's list and added our own. The person appointed had built an enterprise IT function from scratch to more than 200 people at a technology-led retail and logistics business. They first spoke to us about the brand technology role, and the pipeline we had built meant we could bring them straight back when the CIO role opened.
Director of Technology
A new role to lead technology for one of the group's brands, owning technology operations and development for its applications, with a team of 300 to 500 including third parties.
After our first mapping of more than 40 leaders, the client shortlisted seven and broadened the brief to include platforms, architecture, cloud and exposure to transformation and data. We mapped around ten further profiles, made confidential approaches to test interest, and fed back what we learned about peer structures at five major retailers. We also gathered package information from the market to help the client shape a salary for a role still being designed.
The savings
Most executive search firms charge around 25% of first-year salary for each appointment, and many calculate it on the total package including bonus. On three roles at £250,000 or more, that is at least £187,500 in fees, before any work on mapping, insight or the other projects.
| Role | Base salary | Typical search fee at 25% |
|---|---|---|
| People Director | £250,000+ | £62,500+ |
| Chief Information Officer | £250,000+ | £62,500+ |
| Director of Technology | £250,000+ | £62,500+ |
| Total for three appointments | £187,500+ |
Talent Acumen charges a transparent day rate instead. The client paid for the research time each project needed, could start with its own list and extend only when it chose to, and used the same budget to fund mapping, pipelining and insight across the business.
Why it worked
One partner across the business. The same team worked on everything from board appointments to buying, technology and supply chain roles, across the group's brands, so what we learned in one search shaped the next.
The right service for each job. The client could ask for a map, a set of approaches, a full search or a piece of insight, and pay only for that.
A pipeline that kept its value. A leader first engaged for one role was appointed to another, because we had kept them warm and recorded what mattered to them.
Briefs shaped by evidence. Market feedback and peer insight helped the client refine roles that were still being designed.
Discretion throughout. Anonymous first calls and NDAs let senior people in post engage safely on unannounced roles.
Significant savings. Three £250,000+ appointments without paying at least £187,500 in percentage fees.
About Talent Acumen
Talent Acumen is a research-led recruitment business based in Otley, West Yorkshire. We find hard-to-reach senior talent through confidential, tailored outreach, and we charge on a transparent day rate rather than a percentage of salary.