REASON FOR THE SEARCH

This was a replacement search as the existing Chief Executive Officer didn’t have the right experience to grow the business and generate revenue. This was causing significant problems, so a replacement was needed urgently.

This was also a strictly confidential search as the purchase of the new retail business was in the process of being finalized when Chatham approached us, therefore the portfolio company and PE firm were not to be shared with any candidates.

THE PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM

Chatham Capital is a private investment firm that concentrates on lower-middle market companies with sustainable cash flow from operations. Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Chatham provides debt and equity solutions to companies throughout North America. The firm does not make early-stage, venture capital or real estate investments.

THE PORTFOLIO COMPANY

Muse Paint Bar's target is young to middle-aged adults. They have 30 locations across 9 states in the North East from Rhode Island to DC. The team is very lean and thin.

The portfolio company was a healthy retail business and Chatham was preparing for a liquidity injection into the business to drive growth, however, they had had some recent issues with cash flow that needed resolving asap by the new CEO.

The company relied heavily on marketing, and most of its revenue was made through Google AdWords. This meant that the new CEO needed to have a strong marketing background, specifically digital marketing.

THE SEARCH REQUIREMENTS

• Digital marketing & Retail experience
• Experience leading a team
• Strong operations background

RAW SELECTION

Chatham Capital was on the lookout for a new CEO to join their portfolio company urgently. They wanted to find someone who not only fit the search requirements but someone who was a good cultural fit. Therefore, they turned to Raw Selection who are proven in completing difficult searches across Europe and North America.

Upon starting this search, Raw Selection’s managing partner Alex supplied the hiring manager with a full description of the job and a search brief to build out a full picture of the company, the employees, and the culture. Once this was approved, we knew exactly the type of profile that was needed to succeed in this position.

PROCESS

To secure the candidate, Raw Selection followed their extensive 15-step process to ensure a great match was found for the vacancy.

Upon commencing the search, Raw Selection’s managing partner Alex worked closely with Chatham to create a full and detailed brief, to ensure we fully understood the company goals and challenges, the culture, and the type of profile that would be a good fit.

Raw Selection maintains a vast database of candidates who we have previously spoken with and interviewed, and in this case the candidate who ended up being placed was already on our system.

Within 3 hours of commencing the search, we had identified the candidate who ultimately ended up being hired; this was someone we had interviewed months ago and had maintained a relationship with.

Alongside this, we followed our extensive 15-step process to identify 17 other great profiles, and the initial shortlist of candidates was provided to the client in only 5 days.

The candidate that was hired came from a strong digital marketing background, having initially worked as CMO for previous retail companies before being promoted to CEO.

OUR THOUGHTS ON THE SEARCH

"A big part of what we do at Raw Selection is relationship building and creating a network of Private Equity professionals.

This search is testament to that, as we already had a relationship with Denise (we had pro-actively interviewed her a few months before taking this search on).

That meant once the search came in, all we had to do was pick up the phone."

Alex Rawlings, Managing Partner, Raw Selection

THE CLIENT

"Alex Rawlings and Raw Selection were engaged for a CEO search in the USA for a retail business within our portfolio. Alex presented us with an excellent shortlist in 2 weeks with several strong candidates meeting our criteria.

A candidate was selected who, not only had blue-chip experience, but also lower to middle-market private equity portfolio company exit experience.

The company subsequently hired this profile and we are excited about the prospects for the business.

I would highly recommend Alex Rawlings and Raw Selection to any private equity firm looking to secure talent for their portfolio company."

Cheryl Boyd, Partner

GET IN TOUCH

Raw Selection favors a meticulous approach to talent research. Our process for selecting the right talent means we can boast a 100% success rate for all our retained and engaged C-Suite clients, with 96% of placed candidates still in their roles after 12 months.

If you are looking for new talent, please get in contact with Alex today, at alex.rawlings@raw-selection.com