Ford Hastings Search
Founded in 2003, Ford Hastings provides Board Search and Board Advisory services to fast growing "scale-ups" and sensitive succession planning for privately owned businesses.
About
We help clients and investors build boards and management teams. This is for present and future business needs, including succession planning, funding for growth and exit strategies.Ford Hastings has a fantastic network of executive and non-executive talent. We have considerable reach and access to business intelligence and corporate research through our professional affiliations, as well as online search tools.Our approach is very personal and trusted. We have been involved in over 100 transactions supporting both incoming and outgoing management teams and owners.We operate quickly, quietly and professionally and value the strength of our relationships which we have built up with repeat clients for over 20 years.We work with growth companies, M&A, MBO/MBI, turnarounds and we are used to navigating around the sensitivities of founder transition and succession planning.We are always interested in hearing from individuals who would like to get into our market, particularly if you have worked in a PE/VC environment and been through some kind of transaction or liquidity event as an Executive Director or NED in an MBI, MBO or flotation.
Ethos and Culture
Throughout our relationship with you, we act as Trusted Board Advisors and intellectual sounding board. Our work is a fusion of executive search, business advisory, and founder support. Successful delivery is the lifeblood of our business. We have a high level of referrals and repeat clients. We are naturally collegiate and see ourselves as business partners. Our clients tell us that they value our ability to think laterally and demonstrate innovative leadership solutions, not just one-off hiring decisions.
“Ford Hastings has been Pemberstone’s recruitment advisor for over 20 years. We continue to use them because they know our business needs and use all this knowledge to place the best most appropriate people in front of us. The result is that they've been really successful in recruiting the very best people to our senior teams”
Mark Anslow, CEO, Pemberstone Ventures.
Markets
Ford Hastings specialises in executive appointments in fast-growing, entrepreneurial businesses. Our broad experience, gained from working in most industry sectors and management disciplines, enables us to operate effectively with a wide range of clients.We have a particular knowledge of the investment community and many of our clients are in the process of moving through a step-change in corporate maturity, which may involve a significant financial transaction, liquidity event or flotation.We operate throughout the UK, working alongside, and complementing the skills of venture capital and private equity investors, family offices, accounting firms and other professional services organisations.
Partners
To positively transform your business performance by providing you with high impact senior talent.
Tim Hastings - Founder
Tim has 20+ years board search and NED experience. He spent his early career at KPMG and EY and he now works closely with investors and business owners, advising on commercial strategy, succession planning and recruiting at board level in support of this for fast growth entrepreneurial business, which are often PE or VC backed.Tim’s experience encompasses the complete investment cycle from pre-transaction, through funding and scale-up and on to successful exit. This has given him a very robust network of investors (institutional and private), HNWIs, family offices and NEDs.Tim is also an active NED within a number of growth and scale-up businesses.
Mark Wilson - Partner
Mark is an EY trained Chartered Accountant, who started and sold 2 small businesses soon after qualifying, one of them to Booker plc within 5 years. Since then, he has been MD/CFO for several larger businesses(£10m-£120m). In 2023 he successfully led the team responsible for the sale of a £25m turnover business through an MBO. Mark’s experiences with all aspects of SME regenerations and scale-ups have fortified his reputation as a trusted advisor and board appointments as MD at Mamas & Papas until 2008 and most recently at Widdop Bingham, have enhanced his knowledge and expertise in FMCG. He is a proven transformational leader, advising on and steering strategies for growth and the development of underperforming businesses.
Joe Thomsett - Partner
Joe is a creative, practical, strategic, cross domain thinker. He helps scale-up founders and boards plot a route to commercial success and investor readiness.He has a unique blend of skills that includes an understanding of business models, risk and capital management, the maths of business, business development, marketing principles and strategy, content creation and distribution tools, stakeholder management and story telling.He started life as a Chartered Accountant before moving into SME management consultancy and business strategy
Will Hastings - Partner
Will is the Creative Partner at Ford Hastings and originally trained as a graphic designer. His early career was as a Photographer and Videographer which he uses extensively in digital marketing across a broad range of services, principally aimed at the SME market.In addition to supporting our speaker and dinner events, Will also co-hosts and produces the Ford Hastings podcast, with the first series making the UK top 100 on iTunes. He also launched his own start-up media company called Lightsmiths.
Key Clients
Board Search
We work in
B2B Services - professional, technology, education, healthcare, financial, management consultancy, marketing, HR
Privately owned companies, in a growing niche and/or in an established market
B2B Technology-Enabled Services
Ecommerce
We work with
Founders and the Board
Private Equity Co's, VC/PE Syndicates, Angel investors and HNWIs
Corporate Finance Deal Advisors
Board Advisors and NEDs/Chairs
When
The company is growing
The company is considering a sale or fundraise in the future and is getting ready
The company has just sold or raised funds and is in transition
The company is at the beginning of its succession planning process
Better leadership is required
Owners or established leaders would like a succession plan
Leadership talent gaps have emerged and so need filling
Recruitng for
C-Suite: CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, CSO
Board: Board Advisory, Chair, Non-Exec
Director: Managing, Sales, Marketing, Operating, Finance, HR
*Role scenarios - Is this you?
New C-suite team in preparation for sale
Board Advisor hires to act as founder intellectual sounding board, advise on strategy and GTM approaches
New CEO to allow founder to move into a Non-Exec role
Operating Board director hires to facilitate company growth
HR Director hire to put talent and hiring frameworks in place
Senior hires to help integrate companies post acquisition, or facilitate acquisitions
Board Advisor hires to open up new markets or help with a fundraise
Board Advisory
''Most people who think they want a NED probably need a Board Advisor''
People with one foot in both camps
Willing to roll their sleeves up and make things happen
Work as your trusted advisor, your counsel
Able to use their contact book to create opportunities
People who have the knowledge and experience to say ''this is the way''
The more formal elements can come later
fh. Board advisors
fh. has a world class network of Board Advisors to help solve your top scale-up priorities
fh. also operate as Board Advisors themselves
Advisors can roll-on and roll-off your team to solve a specific problem (3-12 months) or stay for a longer period of time
Board Advisors can also formalise their engagement into a Non-Executive Director or Chair appointment as your scale-up matures and requires it
Types of Board Advisors
Contact Book - Get me introduced to these people, now
Digital Leverage - Help my brand and offering with the leverage of your large online audience
Sector Expertise - Help me with a go-to-market strategy in these markets
Scale Expertise - Help me with this part of the growth journey, because you have done it before, and know the way through
Challenge Expertise - Roll in to help me with this specific challenge, then roll out
Investment Expertise - Help me raise money, for organic growth and acquisition
Acquisition or Exit Expertise - Help me navigate this business sale, exit, or acquisition
Crisis Expertise - Handle this major crisis or critical incident
Founder Counsel - Be my private counsel, because this stuff is hard and who do I turn to?
Board Mentoring - Coach and guide these people, to help them get from A to B
Polymath Advisor - Impart your broad range of skills and experiences to add value to a number of situations
A snapshot of recent hires
Board (CMO, COO) and Operating Board Hires (HRD, Engineering Director), deal and owner advisory, for £55m employee benefits company, prior to PE backed 9-figure MBO
Board building exercise over 7 years, for Private Office backed high-tech manufacturing business, hiring a Commercial Director, Managing Director, Finance Director as part of an exit plan for 2024
1 Chair, 3 Board Advisors, 1 Head of Sales for US/UK Augment L&D (AR, AI, Animated Video) Agency and LMS provider
CEO for £250m market cap AIM listed professional services group
COO for £10m Professional Services Company
Chair for £9m E-Bikes start-up, post funding, with exit plan in mind
Fractional Chief Financial Officer (FCFO)
An affordable & flexible solution to your scale-up, financial and strategic challenges can be found in a FCFO, immediately available from fh.
Access the talent, skill and expertise that a FCFO can offer without:
Recruitment costs.
Delay.
Full- time employment costs.
Long term contractual commitment.
But with complete flexibility to change the terms of the assignment and even the candidate at any time should you wish.
We have a network of over 50 FCFO’s who we know well with extensive experience of:
Strategic planning.
Scale-ups and turnaround.
Profit protection and margin growth.
Restructuring.
Sale and Acquisition.
Venture Capital/Private Equity.
Raising finance and managing debt.
Process, controls and IT.
Family businesses.
Mentoring teams and advising founders.
Managing advisor relationships including banks and corporate finance.
As a result of our extensive FCFO team we will always be able to find the best fit for your business challenge at short notice with no long term commitment, typically we will offer you 3 candidates to choose from who will all meet your requirements.
A snapshot of recent hires
Online furniture retailer, founded in 2021 owned by a UHNW family.
There was a focus on growing sales via Google Adwords combined with poor financial control, which led to significant losses.
A new management team was appointed in September 23, as part of this re-structure and we introduced a fractional CFO to:
Implement in house accounting & controls
Support a 1st time MD in moving with a focus on profitable growth.
Control product costs and improve GM (it had been negative) and control cash.
Highly profitable trader in pre-owned luxury watches.
Operating offline only near Liverpool St.
The owner is looking for a "friendly" investor to support further growth and expansion as well as the opportunity to take some "cash off the table"
We introduced a fractional CFO to:
Implement monthly accounts and review
Lead implementation of website
Plan in-housing of accounting from 3rd party book-keeping firm
Liaise with advisors on IM, DD and investor conversations
Contact Ford Hastings
London Office
1 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NDPhone: 0203 751 9480Email: info@fordhastings.com
Manchester Office
53 King Street, Manchester, M2 4LQ