Based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, apetito Ltd produces nutritious, great-tasting meals for hospitals, care homes and community services across the UK and in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and the US. They are also the parent company of Wiltshire Farm Foods, the UK’s premier home-delivery service for ready-made meals.
Apetito won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise three times, most recently for sustainable development, the previous awards having been their range of texture-modified meals for people with swallowing difficulties and for innovation. , They take great pride in their pioneering history of innovation within the food and drinks industry.
Having supported apetito previously, Moon Executive Search was approached to manage a search for the critical appointment of a Head of Finance and Chief Risk Officer.
The Challenge
This appointment was a key senior management role within apetito’s UK business and the role was to have overall responsibility for all aspects of the company’s financial management. The successful candidate would work with their team of c25 people to deliver upon the following key areas:
To protect the company’s assets by ensuring that appropriate controls, procedures and corporate governance is in place
To continue developing a department that adds value in the eyes of its internal and external customers
To create competitive advantage by adopting new technologies that help differentiate Apetito to existing and prospective customers, and
By focussing on the employees, to develop a quality, robust and engaged team that is empowered, excited and dedicated to adding value as well as compliance.
Once instructed, Moon was mindful of the need to identify an individual who had operated as a key member of a senior team previously and was therefore comfortable having regular interaction with the board and the rest of the senior management team. In addition, we knew the successful candidate must bring strategic influence to help the direction of the business, in order to drive business profitability on to the next level.
Secondly, we were aware that the financial aspects of the role also encompassed that of Chief Risk Officer and therefore held a key role both within the UK business and also liaison with teams in Germany. Therefore, we were sought to identify candidates for the shortlist who could chair and drive momentum within the UK risk group.
Finally, a key challenge for this search was to ensure we fully grasped the commercial requirements of the role, shortlisting candidates who could bring real value to the business whilst identifying closely with the core cultural values of apetito.
For example, it was important candidates had a knowledge of the wider food sector and an understanding of long-term contracts, the changing legislation around care, education and public sector and a real empathy and understanding with the people that apetito support.
Our Approach
Vanessa Moon Founding Director led this search with Director of Executive Search Simon Quinn, utilising our extensive executive finance network and undertaking detailed research to examine the profiles of potential candidates for further consideration. Vanessa, Simon and the team were keen to ensure that all candidates were strong on personal development for the team with an ability to empower success.
Vanessa met with Richard Ring, UK and North American CFO and Retail Operations Director, to cover team dynamics (including the structure of the leadership team) business plans and strategy and organisational culture and values. During this meeting, Richard provided a full presentation giving an overview of the financial performance and history of the business including future plans and context to the appointment. This level of detail was critical in shaping our thinking in terms of appropriate candidate targets to approach. For example, it was clear that we would be looking for candidates to evidence a clear understanding and empathy of the sector and how critical the service provided by apetito is to the vulnerable and elderly.
Armed with this information, we then began to map the UK market, adopting a thorough national search and focusing on the main key criteria of the role. In addition to this, we published a branded advertisement on various executive recruitment websites to draw the best talent to the opportunity. We reported weekly on response rates and also updated on our progress with regards to the bespoke proactive search undertaken.
Once we had selected a longlist of candidates, we provided candidate briefing packs with essential information to assist their own research and offer context to the appointment. Next, we moved to meet those candidates for a thorough screening. This allowed us to reduce our selection to an appropriate shortlist of candidates who we then presented to apetito, together with detailed interview notes showing insight into the candidate’s strengths, capabilities, experience and suitability, including their motivations.
The Solution
Following a structured interview process which involved the completion of psychometric tests and various meetings with apetito’s Recruitment Manager, Director of HR and senior managers from across the business, Moon was pleased to conclude the search successfully and assist with the on-boarding requirements.
Richard Ring, UK and North American CFO and Retail Operations Director comments:
‘In appointing a search firm to manage this campaign, we sought a partner who would be able to instil confidence in us that they understood not only the technical aspects of the role, but importantly the cultural requirements as well. Having known Vanessa for several years, we were confident in her and the teams’ ability to provide us with strong shortlist and we were not disappointed.’
Vanessa Moon adds:
‘apetito is a fantastic business which provides such an important service to hospitals, care homes and many communities, in fact my mother in law has been a service user for many years and is a very happy customer! I was hugely impressed with their on-site operation and facilities, and the level of detail they provided to ensure we understood the brief thoroughly. It was pleasure to act for apetito and we look forward to working together again.’
Moon Executive Search provide bespoke solutions for clients, using our extensive expertise and knowledge gained from twenty years of recruiting to find your perfect candidate. If you are looking to appoint a senior leader to your Board, visit Build Your Board to get started, or call us on 01275 371200.
News, Insights and Trends
Find out more about Moon Executive Search and the articles, roles and thought-leadership from the business and non-profit landscape.