The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust was trying to recruit from outside of the region for a new, senior finance role covering all of East Anglia. Read how our comprehensive local knowledge and four regional offices helped them to find the ideal candidate.

About

The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust is a charitable multi-academy trust specialising in primary academies. Set up by The Elliot Foundation, an educational charity established to ensure that children remain at the centre of decision making within schools, the Academies Trust sponsors schools to become Academies. It aims to build a thriving community of schools including converter and sponsor primary academies that succeed on behalf of the children. With a head office based in London, The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust comprises of nearly 30  schools across its primary academy chain, with current clusters located in East Anglia, the West Midlands and London. 

Challenge

Craig McNamara, HR Business Partner at the Elliot Foundation Academies Trust, was looking to recruit a Finance and Operations Business Partner for the East Anglia region. As a newly created post, covering a large geographical area, the ideal candidate needed to be someone who not only had suitable experience and technical finance competence but also the softer skills of relationship building and stakeholder management, and the values and ethics which would bring additional credibility to the finance function.

With a challenging set of requirements and working outside of the region from the Trust’s London head office, Craig and the HR team had struggled to source any suitable candidates directly.

Solution 

Having previously been a candidate with Pure and impressed with their service, Craig decided to approach them for help.

He said: “My initial conversation with Pure about this particular role was extremely positive. As an organisation, we do not tend to use recruitment agencies when sourcing candidates but for this position, we needed some extra support and local expertise. I felt that the service we received from Pure was exceptional. Our recruitment consultant Jamie Durham provided expert advice and understood the area in which we wanted to recruit. Having been unable to find suitable candidates ourselves, we interviewed all of the candidates that Jamie put forward.”

Benefit

Pure’s recruitment consultants have extensive experience of recruiting across the Eastern region. Combined with a strong network of contacts within its Accountancy specialism, this enabled Jamie to source candidates that the Trust had not yet been able to find. 

Craig added: “Pure had a much better idea of the local recruitment market than we did. With such a wide geographical area to be covered, Jamie was able to liaise with his colleagues across all of Pure’s offices to source candidates who met our criteria. As well as suitable experience, we needed to find the right personality and cultural fit for the role. Jamie listened to our needs and only put forward candidates who really met our requirements.”

Jamie Durham, Recruitment Consultant at Pure, added: “We always look to recruit not just the best available talent, but the right candidate for the organisation. We held multiple calls with the Trust’s senior HR and finance team members to make sure we really understood their needs, culture and values clearly. The successful candidate had strong finance skills and proven accountancy experience. Just as importantly, on meeting her I could instantly see that she also had the right nature and aptitude for the role. She possesses strong interpersonal skills which were paramount for this position where relationship building would be a core element of the role.”

For more information on how Pure can support your business with unrivalled local recruitment expertise, talent development and employer brand, contact your local office.