0207 160 6996 
Executive Search: Managing Director for High-Growth Telecommunications Business
When a family-run telecoms firm set its sights on 5x revenue growth, they needed a Managing Director with the strategic muscle and cultural sensitivity to make it happen.
✅ Who This Is For
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Founder-led or family-run businesses targeting accelerated growth
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Companies looking to scale from SME to mid-market
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Telecoms, tech or infrastructure businesses requiring leadership transformation
🚧 The Challenge: Rural Location, Cultural Fit & Growth Ambitions
Client context:
Our client—a well-established telecommunications and broadband provider in the North West—was aiming to grow from £2m to £10m turnover in just five years. Having grown steadily since its launch in 1999, the company now needed to bring in an external Managing Director to lead this ambitious scale-up.
The brief:
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Appoint a high-impact MD capable of tripling revenue within 3 years
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Lead a family-run business through a period of major change
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Overcome recruitment fatigue after unsuccessful self-led efforts
Key barriers to overcome:
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Rural HQ location made local talent acquisition difficult
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A strong family business culture, with most employees pre-existing acquaintances of the owners
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The need for significant strategic and commercial experience in high-growth environments—ideally in telecoms or adjacent tech sectors
🎯 Our Executive Search Strategy: Strategic Growth Meets Cultural Alignment
With an ambitious commercial target and strong internal legacy culture, this search required a precise balance of strategic capability and emotional intelligence.
1. Immersive Client Discovery
We spent a full day onsite to gain a deep understanding of the business model, team dynamic, and internal structure—critical to ensuring cultural alignment for any incoming MD.
2. Redefining the Search Strategy
Having reviewed the client’s previous recruitment attempts, we identified gaps in their positioning and targeting. We expanded our reach:
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Nationwide search—not limited by location; we focused on candidates open to relocation
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Sector-specific and cross-sector talent with experience delivering transformative growth
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Candidates from family-run or founder-led businesses, with proven success in professionalising operations without eroding the core culture
3. Psychometric & Cultural Assessment
To mitigate cultural risks, we implemented detailed personality and leadership profiling for all shortlisted candidates—assessing adaptability, stakeholder engagement, and growth mindset.
🏆 Outcome: Appointment of a Proven MD with Transformational Credentials
From an initial longlist of 84 candidates, we delivered a refined shortlist of 5 highly credible individuals. The successful appointment brought a rare combination of growth leadership and cultural transformation experience.
Why they were the ideal fit:
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Former MD of a family-run software business that tripled revenue and exited via sale
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Firsthand experience in modernising legacy operations and reshaping internal culture
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Deep understanding of working in tight-knit family environments, with the strategic acumen to scale beyond them
“We weren’t just looking for a Managing Director—we needed someone who could take a good business and build a great one, without losing the family DNA. This placement nailed it.” — Client Feedback
📌 What to Consider When Hiring an MD in a Family Business
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Cultural empathy is as important as strategic capability
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Proven ability to scale without disrupting internal cohesion is critical
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Strong candidates often come from outside your immediate sector, especially in founder-led environments
📞 Ready to Appoint a Transformational MD?
If you’re scaling and need leadership to match your ambition, we’ll help you find the candidate with both the vision and the emotional intelligence to take you there.
👉 Call us on 020 7160 6996 for a confidential discussion about your senior leadership search.
Let’s find your next Managing Director—the one who will unlock your next level.
