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Diversity & Inclusion is a core part of Rowan’s ESG agenda, and underpins everything we do here internally, as well as for our clients. We believe that greater Diversity & Inclusion enriches businesses and leadership teams; providing different perspectives, experiences and voices that businesses can benefit from….

  You’re an ambitious owner/founder who realises that a strong, positive culture in your SME is integral to your success, and to attracting and retaining top talent.     But how do you sustain your culture as your business scales?        Recently, Rowan appointed a ‘People’ leader to a growing SME that…

As well as sponsoring the £10-50m category, we’re really looking forward to seeing some of our clients battling it out in the £50m+ category: DA Languages and Foresight Group: Sale of the business to IK partners Rowan appointed MD Matt Taylor and Chair Diane Cheesebrough alongside the owner in 2018 after Foresight’s initial…

APEM provides independent advice and guidance to support government and regulatory guidelines in the B2B space, with a sharp focus on sustainability. The business took on investment from WestBridge in early 2019, and has doubled in size by pursuing an acquisitive strategy. This includes the acquisition of GoBe Consultants Ltd,…

It’s a big week for North-West business, with this year’s Insider Media Dealmaker’s awards taking place at the sold-out Manchester Central arena this Thursday 27th October.   We’re proud to again be sponsoring the £10-50m award category.  Rowan has always been a big advocate for the awards, which showcases the…

As an ambitious SME owner/founder, you might well have prioritised ‘industry experience’ when making appointments to your leadership team.  It only makes sense, right? You sell software (for example), so you want your next Senior Leadership Team (SLT) member to know how to sell software. We would…

As an SME owner/founder, you’re an expert in your field, and you’re passionate about your business. Your drive and leadership have brought your business this far – now it’s time to leverage more value from your leadership team and take your business on the next stage of its…

For over a decade, we have worked with owner/founders to provide the leadership expertise, experience and contacts to achieve their business ambitions and attract primary investment if that is their goal.  Rowan operates a tried-and-tested research-based model when undertaking Executive Search assignments to appoint business leaders. Our…

Our market-leading, proprietary behavioural analysis tool, PACE, can define behavioural archetypes for upper-quartile, high-growth leaders. It’s not “just another psychometric test” that provides abstract insights; it’s a tool specifically designed for business owners and investors in high-growth companies.   PACE stands for: • PRAGMATISM• AGILITY• CURIOSITY• EXECUTION…

What is ‘Complementarity’? ‘Complementarity’ refers to the ability of business leaders to work together effectively, based on complementary behavioural traits. A leadership team that is high in complementarity has the best chance of driving growth, working through problems and fostering a harmonious, productive atmosphere throughout the business….

One of the ways to boost growth is through acquisition, but what makes for a successful ‘buy-and-build’ strategy? Firstly, the acquirer must be aware of the entry point into the new business. Is it a pure start-up or an established entity? For start-ups, there is a great…

Here at Rowan, the concept of ‘leadership’ is close to our hearts. We appoint leaders and future leaders to our SME clients, and are acutely aware of the difference strong leadership can make to a business’ outcomes. It’s a multi-faceted concept with a lot of variables, however,…

Executive Search is one of our consultancy services. Finding, assessing and introducing senior talent to our private capital and PE-backed SME clients is what we’ve traditionally been know for – but when we partner with clients, we are so much more involved than that. We partner with…

Diversity and Inclusion means different things to different people. In fact, Diversity and Inclusion can mean different things to the same person at different times in their life. It is exactly what Kellie Rixon MBE FIH spoke about recently when she addressed a room of 19 other professional female…

Data is all around us. Leadership, financial, people, operational, customer – the list goes on. However, without the correct insight, data is useless. As leadership performance moves towards being more data-driven, it’s critical to have the correct insights that will allow you to optimise for growth and…

~ By our Marketing Consultant Laura Ball ~ You know it’s been a good event when you’ve laughed and cried in equal measures! And that is exactly what happened when a group of twenty like-minded business women got together to start their conversations around Diversity and Inclusion…

Despite uncertain global economic conditions, UK mid-market PE activity in H1 ‘22 remained high, albeit slightly down in terms of volume and value on the post-lockdown surge of 2021. Business services and technology, media, and telecoms accounted for nearly 60% of PE investments in H1, fuelled by…

We believe that effective leadership teams take time to develop, and the appointments we make are always with a view to the long-term ambitions of the business leader, underpinned by the strategic plan. The ‘Leadership Dynamics’ product suite was built on these principles. Working towards a specific…

‘Leadership Dynamics’ is the product suite designed and built to benchmark a leadership team against its peers, provide analysis as to the effectiveness of that team, and suggest a route to optimising that team; giving it the best chance to deliver on the business’ strategic growth plan….

Data used to be perceived primarily as a marketing tool; used mainly for tweaking and improving customer journeys. This has changed dramatically in recent years. The capture, analysis and exploitation of data is now fundamental to the performance of most businesses. All business systems are awash with…

                    ESG matters. Employee attraction, retention and satisfaction is at least somewhat contingent on your business’ clarity and transparency around these issues. Investors want to see real, tangible steps towards improving your ESG efforts, and prospects are more likely to be turned into customers if your values…

GlobalData Plc‘s recent analysis found that the UK is among the top five markets for global venture capital funding activity, as well as being the top European market. In H1 2022 there were over 1,000 VC deals, with a value of over $18 billion. Whilst the month-to-month trend…

As SMEs look to create more value they need to pull the ‘leadership lever’ “We believe that the people in a senior leadership team are the primary levers that the SME and its stakeholders possess to effectively drive their value creation plans.” Our focus Here at Rowan,…

Over the course of the previous 18 months or so, baby products e-com retailer Online4baby has embarked upon a remarkable growth journey. The business’ £40m turnover in 21 was a large increase from 2019’s £14m. This ambition has only grown with time, and the aim is to grow significantly…

In the second episode of the ‘In Conversation With…’ series, Johnathan Massey, the head of our Non-Exec practice, sat down with Malcolm Hughes, Chair; serial Chairman of businesses in a variety of sectors, to discuss the ‘buy and build’ strategy that has brought him consistent success: Part…

Rowan’s banking consultant Iain Duncan weighs in on the Bank of England’s base rate rise to 1.25% on Thursday 16th June. “Last Thursday saw the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee raise the Base Rate to 1.25%, the highest rate in the UK for 13 years. With inflation now expected…

Rowan’s new Life Sciences & Healthcare division, led by Josh Guest, has gained a new Senior Consultant this week: Jennifer Crompton Jenn is focused on appointing industry-specific, scientifically or technically niche senior leadership positions for life sciences companies, such as pharmaceuticals and biotech. With over a decade of…

Rowan’s new trio; Associate Director Tammy Hopla, Senior Consultant Jack Bottomley and Executive Researcher Emma Milton have been featured in a number of publications this week, including Insider Media and Business Up North. Indicative of our upward trajectory, the trio join after a record year (2021) and record quarter (Q1 2022) for Rowan. Since initial…

Kate joins Peter Holt‘s Finance team as an Executive Researcher, replacing the newly promoted Sarah Morrell. She will work on director- and senior manager-level mandates for Pete, Sarah, Carl Meyler, Sara Jackson and Cassie Cherry, alongside fellow Executive Researcher Emma Milton. Kate spent over a decade in primary education and brings a wealth of experience…

We’re delighted to announce Tom’s arrival to Rowan, where he will work in Louise Stephenson (Associate CIPD)‘s Sales & Marketing team. Tom is currently studying for a Business Management degree, and joins over the Summer, where he will work closely with Louise, Lexi Graty, Scott Wilkinson BA, MIRP and Fiona Flack on senior…

The Finance Directors’ network, hosted by Rowan Executive Search in association with Barclays, MHA Moore and Smalley and Baker Tilly, returns to the Allerton Manor Golf Club in Liverpool on the 14th of June. At this event we welcome a panel of speakers, including Jocelyn Morgan, Greg Doran, Kieran Donovan, Andrew Feeke and Stephen Gregson, who will be sharing their thoughts…

A huge congratulations to the Finance team’s Sarah Morrell, who recently made the step up from Executive Researcher to Associate Director! Sarah works alongside Peter Holt, Carl Meyler, Cassie Cherry and Sara Jackson, and will now lead on Finance leader and future leader appointments for our SME clients in the North and further…

Johnathan Massey, the head of our Non-Exec practice, sat down recently with Martin Boddy – NX Chairman at 6B, Space 48 and Money Alive and former CEO in the Regtech and Fintech space – to discuss how best to use data and data analytics to boost value creation. Part 1 of 3….

This time last week we were taking in the sites of our Northern neighbour’s capital, and a few of us were nursing sore heads from whiskey-tasting the day before! Business growth is our priority, but our ESG efforts are equally important to us; so we make sure…

You may or may not be aware, but this week is Mental Heath Awareness Week, led by The Mental Health Foundation. This is something we take very seriously here at Rowan, with flexible working, regular team catch-up calls and numerous trips and outings (the next one being tomorrow…

We’re delighted to welcome our newest Rowan team member, Jack Bottomley, to the business. Jack joins Louise Ellis‘ HR & Ops practice, alongside Gemma Mafe and Jennie Adamson, and will work with our SME clients to match and appoint SMT-level talent to drive business growth from an operational perspective. Jack graduated in 2016…

As we say here at Rowan Executive Search, “it’s all about the people”. And in today’s talent-short market, the right people, culture and opportunities for progression are more important than ever to the success of a growing business. So, what can an ambitious, growing SME do to ensure…

We’re very excited to announce our newest Associate Director-level hire: Tammy Hopla! Tammy is an ACCA-qualified Finance Director, who is using her considerable commercial experience, finance industry knowledge and extensive network of contacts to pivot into a senior position within Rowan. She will work in the C-Suite team…

Time flies! Our banking and financial Consultant Iain Duncan is celebrating his one-year anniversary with Rowan today. Iain has become an integral part of our set-up; bringing his practical experience, banking insight and the business contacts he’s made over the years to Rowan in an advisory capacity, working closely…

Choosing an Executive Search partner can be difficult: there are few barriers to entry in the industry and plenty of businesses to choose from. Rowan Executive Search is widely known as the North’s leading Search provider for the SME, so what is it we do that makes…

Recently Louise Stephenson (Associate CIPD) and Peter Holt ran a highly successful event with HSBC at The Ivy for digital marketing leaders and SME owners. Speakers included Online4baby‘s Tom Fotheringham and HSBC‘s James Sawley, but what were our key takeaways? 1. Covid forced many businesses to pivot online to stay alive and for many newer businesses, this gave…

Johnathan joined Rowan to head up our Non-Executive and Chair division, having gained a wealth of experience and developed a number of relationships in this world during his previous careers across private equity and corporate finance. However, as Rowan has grown over the past 12 months taken…

Rowan Executive Search and HSBC‘s joint event at The Ivy Manchester last week was a roaring success! We were brilliantly catered for by The Ivy with an outstanding 2-course breakfast, and HSBC’s James Sawley was a great host, who had some real insight to share. Special thanks also to guest speaker Online4baby‘s Tom Fotheringham….

We focus on our clients and candidates most of the time. After all, our mantra here at Rowan is, “People-Powered Growth”. But who are the people that make us what we are, and what do they do on a day-to-day basis to help us maintain our status…

Today is International Women’s Day, and we asked our own Molly Chalfont Pollard to contribute some thoughts on how Rowan attempts to #Breakthebias. Molly is passionate about intersectional feminism and is also a contributing writer for Our Words, the book club and magazine of Our Streets Now, a campaign demanding the…

As we say here at Rowan, “it’s all about the people”, and we wouldn’t be the industry leader we are without our fantastic employees. Today just so happens to be ‘National Employee Appreciation day’, and we want to take a minute to appreciate everyone in the business;…

Eco-friendly baby care products retailer Mypura has secured a £4.25m investment from private equity firm Maven Capital Partners. Guy Fennell, Mypura founder and CEO, said: “Maven’s investment and expertise will help us scale up to the next level in 2022. Ultimately, the funding will help us make it…

We’ve talked at length about the value system that underpins everything we do here at Rowan; from our candidate care to the way we work with our clients on appointing leaders and future leaders, to our own internal recruitment policy. Those values are:AuthenticityCommitmentProgressivenessCollaborationRigour Let’s look at the…

We’ve talked at length about the value system that underpins everything we do here at Rowan; from our candidate care to the way we work with our clients on appointing leaders and future leaders, to our own internal recruitment policy. Those values are: AuthenticityCommitmentProgressivenessCollaborationRigour Let’s look at…

A year ago to the day, Rowan hired Luke Williams (this post’s author) to a newly created, internal position within the business – Content Designer. Everybody knows Paul Waite and the rest of Rowan’s Directors and Associate Directors, but what goes on behind the scenes here at Rowan? What do I…