People-powered Growth! Louise Stephenson expands Rowan’s Sales & Marketing practice, as part of its continued investment in its people

March marks a year since the first lockdown was initiated, and the way Executive Search, contingent recruitment and business in general is done has changed; video calls, instant messaging and working from home have become the norm for many. Unfortunately, stagnation, redundancies and even business closures have been common in our industry, as clients ‘batten down the hatches’, with regards to their talent acquisition strategies.

Rowan Executive Search’s mantra is ‘People-powered growth’. This refers to the ways in which the business helps clients to accelerate their growth journeys; advising on investment strategies, helping to shape and build out Executive Boards, market research, Search & Assessment services etc., but it’s also Rowan’s philosophy when it comes to internal hires.

Rowan MD Paul Waite and the leaders of the four divisions have remained bullish on Rowan’s talent acquisition strategy, and have all been looking to strengthen their teams with Associate Directors and Senior Researcher hires.

Mark Fahy joins the Sales and Marketing division and brings deep, extensive experience and expertise around capital markets, IPOs and perhaps most significantly for Rowan, the journey of SMEs from privately-owned entity to first investment, right the way through to flotation on the public markets.

In his fourteen years with the London Stock Exchange, Mark was responsible for quoted company relationship management, the LSE’s Elite programme and the IPO pipeline across the regions. Later, during his time with Corporate Finance boutique Rickitt Mitchell, Mark was responsible for supporting North-West SMEs on their growth and funding journeys. He has also developed an unparalleled network of Executive Board members, Chairs, NEDs, lawyers, bankers and investors, which will be invaluable to the Rowan team moving forward.

Mark is uniquely positioned to advise Rowan’s clients on their growth journeys, whether they should consider and how they should attract investment, and the structures of their Executive Boards. In addition to this, he will be responsible for the appointments of board level Sales, Marketing and Commercial Directors.

Mark commented;

“I am delighted to have joined Rowan as the business continues to scale. I have known Rowan for many years and have always been impressed by the team and the business’ reputation in the Market. Having dealt with Rowan during both my time at the London Stock Exchange and with Rickitt Mitchell, Rowan recognises that people are at the heart of business success. Rowan’s mantra of ‘People-powered growth’ perfectly encapsulates what Rowan delivers repeatedly”.

Mark joins Louise Stephenson, who leads the Sales & Marketing division, which is now in its fifth year. Despite difficult circumstances, this team has enjoyed a highly successful twelve months, with Associate Director Scott Wilkinson joining just before the first lockdown started, and record revenues being achieved.

Louise commented;

“Recently, we have seen a trend for our clients to merge their Sales and Marketing functions, and COVID has allowed many of them to take stock and reset for growth. We work with our clients to reshape their Sales and Marketing strategies, by putting the customer at the heart of what they do. Often this means a collaboration of both Sales and Marketing, embracing both the digital world as well as traditional styles of selling. Mark joining the team now offers our clients further expertise, and I am looking forward to supporting Mark to grow a sector-targeted Sales and Marketing division.”

Mark joins the newly appointed leader of the NED division, Johnathan Massey, as part of a recent trend for Rowan to ‘think outside the box’ and hire senior staff from outside of the Executive Search or Recruitment industries. Rowan’s own Marketing division has been strengthened recently too, with the appointment of full-time Copywriter/Content Strategist (and author of this article!) Luke Williams, and Marketing Manager Laura Ball.