Wickland Westcott

Crew Clothing - Taking Over from the Founder

Alastair Parker-Swift founded Crew Clothing with one retail site in Salcombe, Devon in 1993. Today, the multi-channel retailer has over 60 stores in the UK and internationally. When ISIS Equity Partners took a significant minority stake in the business in 2006, it was to help Alastair realise some of the capital he had created but also to partner him on the next stage of the company's growth and development. Three years into a successful partnership and the business was at a crossroads; it had reached a plateau in terms of performance. There was a need to bring in more structure and discipline and to make some potentially tough decisions to enable the business to embark on its next stage of development and growth. In short, Alastair was looking to step back from the day to day control and bring in a new CEO to make the necessary changes to allow the business to scale effectively and professionalize.

Ross Webster, Head of Wickland Westcott's Private Equity Practice led the search to recruit the new CEO. Our understanding of the cultural and behavioural traits common to entrepreneurial companies enabled us to win this competitive mandate. Our unique integrated approach, combining the skills of both a search consultant and occupational psychologist, allowed us to really understand the softer traits of the business prior to the search commencing, thereby improving the probability of finding a candidate with relevant skills and shared values. The process started with a detailed assessment of Alastair and his Finance Director by a Wickland Westcott Talent Consultant, which involved personality tests and feedback sessions to understand key metrics such as culture and leadership style, in order to create a detailed picture of what good looks like in this environment. This profile then acted as the blue-print when meeting candidates through the detailed search process.

When future CEO Octavia Morley met with Alastair for the first time, it was clear there was an immediate connection in terms of cultural fit. As the preferred candidate, we wanted to back up Octavia's fit with psychometric testing and follow-up interviews, and the results reinforced what our instincts and commercial acumen were telling us. To ensure smooth transition in to the business the final service we offered involved a two month on-boarding coaching process.

Octavia made an immediate impact on the business with Alastair commenting after the first month that "I really could never have hoped to be this comfortable at this stage with the new CEO". Alastair further commented: "I have really enjoyed the whole process with you guys at Wickland Westcott and have no doubt we will work together on the next project."