Our Recruitment Solution

AO.com is a high growth, pure play ecommerce business based in Bolton. A major online player, AO.com became one of the UK's biggest commercial success stories when it was valued at £1.2bn as it debuted on the London Stock Exchange.Pre IPO, AO.com partnered exclusively with FR Executive to recruit a ‘best in class’ senior team consisting of the following:Director of EcommerceHead of RetentionHead of Multimedia StudioHead of ContentStrategy and DeliveryWorking with the Commercial Director and Marketing Director to shape role specifications and salaries for roles which were new to the business.Working with the Marketing Director to help shape structures for two new departments.Mapping the UK market for best in class talent in the above specialisms.Using a multi-channel candidate attraction methodology from niche advertising to headhunting, to ensure maximised candidate reach.ResultsAll roles successfully filled within the scheduled 6 weeks.Candidates placed from high profile brands such as The Hut Group, Amazon, Play.com and Waterstones.From a low base level of awareness, Forward Role helped build AO.com’s talent brand in the North West market and beyond, working alongside the AO.com social media and PR teams on talent engagement strategies.What AO say about usAO.com chose FR Executive, because their ethics and values fit well with our own. We wanted to develop a true relationship approach with an Executive Search Consultancy who understood our culture and brand. At AO.com people are our ultimate differentiator, so by using FR Executive we ensured we reached the best people in the market place, and made hires that will be crucial to the continued success of our business. Thanks to Steve and FR Executive for their hard work and considerable success to date.Alex Braddock - Head of Talent at AO.com

On the Beach are a FTSE 250 B2C online travel business driven by cutting edge technology and a disruptive customer proposition.The challengeWe were briefed in January 2014:To find the business a Head of Digital Acquisition to deliver aggressive online growth targets.To find a potential successor for the CMO, who had a clear timescale around his own exit from the business.The strategyA retained head hunt assignment to target the UK’s most talented Digital leaders.The resultAlan Harding placed with the business from Phones4uAlan drives huge digital growth leading to an IPO valuation of £240mAlan is made Marketing Director of the business in 2018.business growth ✅excellent retention and career growth ✅What On the Beach say about us“Steve contacted me at a time when I was starting to think about my next big career challenge. The opportunity to join a high growth business like On the Beach and have a clear career pathway to leading the Marketing department and equity made this the ideal move for me.Steve is a leader in his space and is the go to Executive Recruiter for senior Digital and Marketing roles in the North of England”Alan Harding - Marketing Director, On the Beach

The Very Group is the multi-brand online retailer behind Littlewoods.com and Very.co.uk. The home shopping giant, based in the Speke area of Liverpool, boasts one of the most sophisticated ecommerce and UX teams on the planet.Forward Role help The Very Group to attract the best permanent and interim talent in the region and worked with them on their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) for their UX department, conducting an extensive paid research project.The researchThe Very Group launched its own UX Lab two years ago and it is widely considered to be a leader in the UX field in the North West. This research was commissioned by the group to identify key trends in the North West UX talent market to improve their EVP within the UX team.Key findings46% of UX professionals surveyed spent less than two years in their previous roleBusiness culture and quality of work are the top drivers for UX professionals when choosing a new organisation74% of UX professionals surveyed did not plan for a career in UX and only 2% studied a UX related degree.As a result of the research project, Forward Role proposed that The Very Group needed to engage their UX talent audience proactively. A new event was born; UX Cubed. Forward Role worked with The Very Group to populate and run a 120 person UX event at their Speke Head Offices and on a number of initiatives to link up with future talent through closer links with local universities.What The Very Group say about Forward Role"Agencies that embrace added value services like this are the true recruitment partners for companies in 2017. Absolutely love that you helped our UX team make this event happen and showcase UX in the North West. #ForwardRole #ShopDirect #UX"Comment on a Forward Role LinkedIn post by Simon Halkyard, Leading Talent Acquisition for Shop Direct (now The Very Group."I've worked with Tom at Forward Role over a number of years to recruit multiple UX Design professionals. His ability to find candidates that are both personable and passionate about the field of UX is second to none. All of the recruits he's helped source have been a pleasure to manage and to work with, which is a testament to Tom's excellent skills in the field of UX recruitment."Alex Kelsey - Product Owner at Shop Direct (now The Very Group).

Missguided is one of the UK’s fastest growing online fashion retailer. It boasts celebrity endorsements by Nicole Scherzinger, the Kardashians and Pamela Anderson and saw sales jump 75% to over £200 million in 2017.The business approached FR Executive to recruit three key roles:Head of DigitalHead of EcommerceHead of CRMStrategy and DeliveryWorked with the Marketing & Trading Director to scope role salaries.Mapped the UK market for best in class talent in the above specialisms.Used an executive search methodology to create a highly targeted shortlist. Worked with the CEO on talent pooling strategy.ResultsAll roles successfully filled within the proposed 6 weeks.Candidates placed from Graham & Brown, Mama’s & Papa’s and AutotraderWhat Missguided.com say about usI recently chose Steve and FR Executive to carry out an Executive Search assignment for two key members of my Missguided senior team. Steve was the natural choice because of how well connected and knowledgeable he is in the digital space. It’s great to find a recruiter as passionate about finding great candidates for my team as I am. We’re delighted with the hires we’ve made and the service we received.Victoria Betts – Marketing & Trading Director at Missguided

One of Manchester’s most exciting technology businesses, Sorted is building revolutionary delivery software and consumer apps that will change the face of delivery forever.During 2017 we worked with Sorted, on a business critical project to source 37 permanent and contract IT staff within 6 months.StrategyThis large scale recruitment project meant we had to:Set up a dedicated delivery team – including 2 new Forward Role hires.Invest in niche IT sourcing channels; GitHub, Stack Overflow etc.Invest in new sourcing technology; Sourcebreaker and additional LinkedIn functionalityCreate an inbound flow of talent for the business via social campaigns and online PR developed in house.Think differently – We ran a ‘coding club’ event hosted at our Head Office, targeting difficult to find web developers.Delivery and resultsSat on-site with the Sorted recruitment teamAttended interviews and coached team leads on interview technique37 successful hires of new IT staff Added ValueClient retention is very important to Forward Role, so we have a dedicated programme set up for our loyal clients to ensure we keep our 100% retention record.Having successfully delivered on the first phase of Sorted's recruitment project, we were delighted to host a Summer BBQ for their employees to thank them for their loyalty and custom – and to help the new team bed in.