Chief Operating Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Flexible Location,  c.£150,000 plus equity

“….transformational leadership with significant capital gain….”

With a pioneering and differentiated proposition, our client is a B2B/B2C multi-sited service offering operating across a rapidly evolving and consolidating niche market. Private equity backed, they have pursued a highly successful strategy that has delivered exponential growth from £3m to £30m editda in this investment cycle. With success to date predicated on an aggressive M&A strategy, inevitably the business has experienced growth pains due to rapid expansion and now requires wholesale transformation of both culture and operational practice as it comes to terms with the requirements of a corporate entity. Weave into this an ambitious target of £50m ebitda on the road to exit in two years and the need for a more sophisticated leadership style who will be inspired to lead the business through the commercial evolution ahead is evident.

So your objective is clear: support an exceptional Group CEO in delivering the necessary transformation alongside a strategy of double digit growth. Phase one: requires you to interrogate the inherent systems, processes, culture, people and highlight the restructuring requirements ahead. Phase two: centres on embedding a change program that will standardise branding, working practice, procedures and IT; focus on the proper integration of all acquisitions to ‘sweat out’ profitability; and in turn allow the business to become commercially and operationally agile in pursuit of the overarching strategic plan. Phase three: is all about delivering the growth agenda, through both organic and M&A activity as you race towards the two-year exit horizon. But fundamentally the road to success will be all about you ‘getting closer to the business’ and being the inspirational leader that will define a new energised and corporate culture with an ethos of togetherness, accountability and a shared vision of delivering an outstanding customer experience.

This is a dynamic role for a highly-experienced change agent with gravitas and energy. It should appeal to those with outstanding commercial acumen who relish the challenge of a mandate that will test your IQ and EQ – so we need you to demonstrate a track record of identifying the underlying business issues, delivering transformational change and calibrating for growth whilst creating followship in your people along the journey. We also require you to evidence substantive exposure to leading edge multi-site operations where a sophisticated KPI driven culture and a commitment to outstanding customer service are the bedrock of the business ethos. In particular we welcome candidates who have been exposed to businesses with large workforces where the delivery of service level agreements/contracts to time, cost and quality are key drivers – retail, logistics, maintenance, staffing, car rental, outsourcing etc are good operational matches.