Wickland Westcott

Wiggle - Chief Executive Recruitment

Founded in 1999, Wiggle is one of only a few early e-tail stars to have made the successful transition from entrepreneurial start-up to international market leader. Selling bikes and cycle accessories, Wiggle has grown to over £50M turnover in a short period of time and the real challenge has been implementing the infrastructure required to support this business success. ISIS Equity Partners made a significant minority investment in the business in 2006 to work alongside co-founder Harvey Jones, and brought with them the expertise, industry knowledge and understanding of how to professionalise an operation in order to underpin longer-term growth.

To take the business to the next stage, Harvey Jones recognised that he needed to supplement his start-up skills with corporate expertise, and the search therefore began for a CEO who could bring structure and best practice, but also a genuine empathy and passion for the product and the mission. The biggest stumbling block to a successful transition of this nature is the cultural fit between business and the new CEO. Finding the blue chip skill-set that can bring process and controls to a business is relatively easy. Finding an executive who also has the right values and behaviours to thrive in this entrepreneurial environment was the real challenge. A culture and business can be destroyed in six months with the wrong leader at the helm.

The initial recruitment process was unsuccessful, and Wiggle therefore asked the Head of Wickland Westcott's Private Equity Practice to find the ideal CEO. This was a very challenging mandate; to combine the right cultural fit with a capable, driven individual who could bring experience of growing a fast paced business. To meet this need we required a true understanding of the type of personality that would fit into the team, so we brought in an occupational psychologist colleague from our Talent Practice to interview Harvey and the other Board members. The findings proved to be an essential component to the success of the search.

As prior activity had been carried out in the market, an innovative campaign was implemented to draw out further prospective candidates, enticing them with the exciting story of the opportunity and brand. The long, complex process involved generating an extensive pool of candidates before selecting the one that all parties agreed would take the business forward.

The appointment was made, and Humphrey Cobbold, Wiggle CEO, made a smooth transition into the role, enabling Harvey to step aside almost immediately. The business has traded very impressively since Humphrey started and the implementation of best practice and processes into the expanding team will ensure its future success.

David Cox, Wiggle Chairman comments:

"Wickland Westcott's Private Equity Practice proved to be excellent partners for Wiggle in the recruitment of our new CEO. Their approach was innovative and professional throughout. We were particularly pleased with the level of engagement in understanding the business and the importance of cultural fit for the successful candidate."