Client : Advanced Berry Breeding, a breeding company for soft fruit focusing on the international fresh market.
Position: Chief Financial Officer
Location: Netherlands
Model: Exclusive - Retained
Challenges:
- Time sensitivity
- High-level position
The Assignment
During a period of growth for Advanced Berry Breeding, the CEO sought the services of an executive search firm to support them in the critical task of identifying, engaging, assessing and appointing a senior leader key to supporting the company’s trajectory.
Advanced Berry Breeding was keen to secure the services of a CFO who would assume responsibility for overseeing the entirety of the company’s financial and administrative operations whilst spearheading the development and execution of the overall business strategy.
Advanced Berry Breeding had previously engaged with a search firm in an attempt to secure the ideal candidate, but regrettably, their efforts did not yield any suitable prospects. Recognising LCR International’s competence in identifying highly qualified candidates in the complex area of fruit breeding Advanced Berry Breeding reached out to Lucy Robinson, owner of LCR International Ltd to assume responsibility for managing the comprehensive search and senior hiring process.
The Solution
LCR International Ltd commenced the search process with an extensive briefing session with the senior leadership team at Advanced Berry Breeding. This meeting was instrumental in understanding the intricacies of the role and responsibilities of the CFO in addition to to characterising the company’s ideal CFO candidate. We also analysed the underlying factors contributing to the challenges faced by the previous search firm commissioned to deliver the hire enabling us to formulate strategies to mitigate such difficulties during the recommissioned search with LCR.
We leveraged our familiarity with the location and fruit breeding sector to conduct an exhaustive market exploration identifying all prospective candidates with the potential to meet the stringent criteria for this specific CFO role, followed by a discrete and highly professional approach in reaching out to each prospective candidate with a keen attention to maintaining confidentiality and professionalism throughout the process.
The Result
Following LCR’s meticulous evaluation process covering face to face interviews and online assessments we successfully curated a shortlist of candidates for presentation to Advanced Berry Breeding in advance of the deadline, allowing them to move swiftly to the offer stage.
Advanced Berry Breeding benefitting from this expedited process was able to secure an exceptionally qualified candidate whose skill set was an excellent match for the company’s standards and goals. The newly appointed CFO quickly demonstrated the acumen necessary to lead and oversee the team, significantly enhance the company’s operational systems and processes and critically, support the development of a comprehensive and forward thinking corporate strategy.
Timeline (LCR guided the process to offer acceptance within 8 weeks)
Week 1 → Client briefing
Week 2 → Comprehensive search Potential Candidates Interviewed & Assessed | Shortlist submitted
Week 4 → 1st stage interviews
Week 5 → 2nd stage interviews
Week 6 → Offer of employment
Week 8 → Offer Accepted
