Executive Recruitment

Paul Duncan & Vanda Morris, Energyst

Energyst's Paul Duncan - Group Commercial Director

I have commercial responsibility for Energyst Europe. The organisation comprises seven geographic business units across Europe focusing on customers in the industrial, utilities, events and oil, and gas sectors. Energyst provides turnkey rental solutions for power generation and temperature control.

I have known Dixey Henderson for a number of years. I have experienced at first hand the commitment of the business, together with its professional approach to addressing executive recruitment challenges.

During 2007 the Energyst management team made the decision that we needed to appoint a new General Manager for our UK business unit - the largest of our business units. Whilst we had very specific and unique requirements for the candidate I was absolutely confident that the Dixey Henderson approach - based on a thorough understanding of my requirement, and an imaginative and diligent search strategy - would yield the result I wanted.

They quickly understood the need and demonstrated a clear understanding of the role. As a result of this, the approach and process was handled effectively and efficiently, providing the highest quality of candidates.

Ultimately I was delighted to be able to make the appointment of a highly qualified individual in Vanda Morris. She has been on board since January and is already driving forward the plans for our business in the UK.

Vanda Morris - General Manager UK

When the Dixey Henderson researcher called me last year and I had the chance to meet subsequently with Mike Henderson, I knew immediately that this was an opportunity at which I had to take a very close look.

I have been in executive director positions now for much of the last twenty years, in a range of manufacturing and distributor businesses with a strong engineering dimension. Each has allowed me to exercise the skills I know I have and to develop fresh experience in a succession of slightly different challenges. I have grown some businesses, stabilized others, and managed significant change in short periods of time when this has been necessary.

Dixey Henderson had done its research intelligently and caught me at a point where my interest was stimulated. They sold the opportunity with panache and conviction. It was also clear that I was being thoroughly assessed at the same time.

They had done an excellent job of matching the Energyst specification with my requirements for changing. The match was at its most acute around my interest in the intrinsic challenges of taking the business forward and the attendant scope for managed change. In particular the opportunity very clearly existed to develop the approach of the business to its marketplace and to its customers. Above all, the assessment by Dixey Henderson of the fit between the Energyst culture and the right environment for my effective and energised operating style, has been shrewdly defined and uncannily perceptive.

One of the distinctive and differentiating characteristics of Dixey Henderson, lies in its commitment to communication. I was briefed, kept in the loop, had expectations set and delivered on and knew what was happening at each stage of the process of discussion with Energyst.

I'm sure there will be issues ahead; there always are, in any role. I'm delighted nevertheless that I took Mike Henderson's call, and I'd be equally delighted if there was an opportunity to work together again.

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