In May 2020, Compass Executives were exclusively appointed to source an exceptional Finance Director for Dolphin Homes.

Dolphin Homes are a growing Residential Specialist Care (Adults) provider, as part of a newly created role in the business. Dolphin Homes are backed by UK Private Equity Fund, BGF.

With 14 homes currently comprising the business – with a number of further developments in the pipeline – the successful candidate would need to be able to demonstrate the capacity to grow the business over the forthcoming cycle. As well as deliver insightful financial analysis on performance to drive company growth, demonstrate outstanding stakeholder management – particularly having familiarity of working in a Private Equity backed environment – and be involved in M&A and land acquisition activities.

Compass Executives were mandated the assignment owing to their track record in the specialist care sector. In particular at Dolphin Homes where the Operations Director had recently been placed by the team. Given the outstanding service in securing this headcount, Compass Executives were an obvious choice for the Finance requirement.

The Finance team undertook a full executive search, focusing on identifying high calibre Finance Directors with prior exposure to both healthcare and social care. Owing to the location of the business – Hampshire – the search was targeted to identify a candidate who could commute to the Head Office on a daily basis. A shortlist of 6 candidates were presented, all of whom were interviewed on Zoom as part of the first stage. Following this, 3 candidates were brought back to the final stage interview with the PE fund, Owner and Chair, before a unanimous decision was made and the appointment completed in a timescale of under 5 weeks.

The successfully placed candidate, Darren Moody, commented:

Working with Compass Executives to take the next step in my career was possibly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Right from the outset I knew this was a company and a team I could trust to get me where I wanted to go. From the initial conversation about my career, desires and aspirations right through to final appointment, it was very clear that the team were sector specialists, combining in-depth knowledge with a professional and supportive approach.

In any project or process, I place huge importance on being able to trust and rely on the people I am working with, and this is particularly important with recruitment, when you’re unfamiliar with the individuals you are dealing with. This is clearly something Compass Executives understands and prides itself on, as the transparency and honesty they demonstrate together with a commitment to keeping you completely informed during every stage of the timeline is clearly evident.

I would have no hesitation in using Compass Executives as a candidate in the future and would readily reach out to them for any recruitment requirements we have going forward.

Senior Associate | Finance & IT Practice, Kieran Mouser led on the appointment.

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