Capri Sun - A client’s perspective of the hiring process for introducing transformational change

Introduction

Undergoing transformational change can be a complex and challenging process for businesses. Hiring new people to facilitate changes brings risks, so it's crucial for organisations to carefully navigate these challenges. Risks can be managed more effectively when new employees are a strong cultural fit, when they understand the business and challenges they will be facing, and have the necessary skills that are aligned with the transformational goals.

Newly formed teams’ integration into any business is accelerated when they have similar values that foster a greater sense of inclusion. By addressing these risks with careful planning, effective communication, and a focus on cultural integration, organisations can enhance the success of hiring new personnel during periods of transformational change.

A Managing Director’s Perspective

Capri-Sun has been present in the UK market since the early 1980s and is a well-known and loved brand with +90% brand awareness, over 90% weighted distribution in Grocery Multiples and is widely available in food-to-go outlets and restaurants.

Since launching in the 1980s, Capri-Sun has been distributed in Great Britain via licensing agreements. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have been the exclusive distributor of Capri-Sun in GB since 1994.

From January 2024, the distribution agreement between Capri-Sun and CCEP ended, enabling Capri-Sun to sell directly to retailers in GB. The termination agreement between CCEP and Capri-Sun was strictly confidential and all involved signed Non-Disclosure Agreements. The announcement was made public in August 2023.

The project involved setting up a completely new, cross-functional GB division, headquartered in London towards the end of 2023 with a go-live date of 1st January 2024. The goal was to hire up to 30 employees, starting with the senior leadership team.

Richard Baragwanath is the Managing Director GB&I at Capri-Sun UK Limited. Towards the end of 2023, Richard had his new, multi-disciplinary team in place to transform the business. Andy Scott, Principal Consultant at Nigel Wright Group, was the talent search partner who enabled this within three months.

Richard Baragwanath explains how this was achieved.

"This was a complicated and unusual hiring project that required a high level of confidentiality. The other challenge was the volume of candidates that we needed to hire across multiple discipline areas, all in a short timescale.

Andy Scott and I, the consultant leading the project, spent a lot of time discussing the confidentiality aspect of the process and how we needed to go to market without saying the name of the brand or the company, as well as the requirement for prospective candidates to sign NDAs. This created significant challenges but did not deter Nigel Wright from executing an effective search. 

I was very clear about what I was looking for, and talking with Andy, it was evident that he understood the candidate market and the types of people he needed to approach for the different opportunities. We developed a strong relationship by spending time together during the initial briefing process. Andy and the team supporting him were able to fulfil the different briefs accordingly." 

"The project management was exceptional throughout. We had open and honest discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of candidates presented to me from a skills and experience perspective, as well as their cultural fit. Once we’d recruited the senior leadership team, the rest of the process ran smoothly because of the level of trust and understanding we’d already established."

"We received extremely positive feedback from candidates engaged during the search, who felt they were very well briefed on the opportunity and prepared for their interviews. Even without prompting, people said the process was extremely well managed. There were no breaches of confidentiality either, which is a testament to the professionalism of Andy and Nigel Wright team."

"While many search firms have strengths in one or two disciplines, Nigel Wright offered expertise across multiple professional areas, helping us to secure sales, marketing, finance, HR, and supply chain talent. Ultimately, we filled all 11 of the roles we needed to recruit within a three-month period, which is rare given the volume and cross-functionality of the available positions."

"Building a team from scratch means you can really focus on establishing a culture and finding people who fit into it, and I’m glad to say that the team dynamic here is working very well so far. I genuinely believe partnering with one search firm and having them manage the whole project has helped us achieve this and it is an aspect of the search process which has exceeded my expectations."

"Overall, I found Andy and the Nigel Wright team to be very professional in their approach. Andy himself is an easy person to talk to and clearly has excellent networks and an in-depth understanding of our sector. Open, honest, and pragmatic discussions helped build trust and confidence in his ability to deliver the assignments. I would certainly continue to work with Nigel Wright in the future."

A Candidate’s Perspective

Strong candidates need to be highly engaged in any recruitment process so that they are motivated to perform well and demonstrate their capabilities to a potential employer. Angela Motha was approached by Andy Scott at Nigel Wright Group, who identified her as a candidate for the UK Head of Finance position at Capri-Sun.

Angela was successfully employed in this role and shared the following comments about her experience.

"It was a pleasure to work with Andy as a candidate during my search for a new role. He approached me proactively while looking for people with the right experience for a brand new position. From the first phone call, he was friendly, professional, and was interested in who I am, my experience and what makes me tick."

"Andy really gets to know his clients too, and was able to give me a solid understanding of their culture, needs and expectations, so that both sides could be confident of a good fit."

"He is attentive and supportive and kept me updated throughout the recruitment process, providing feedback after each interview, and helping me to prepare for the next stage. Overall, my experience of working with Andy was very positive and I would recommend him to anyone looking for their next role."

Contact us

Whatever your recruitment needs, Andy Scott will be pleased to consult on effective hiring methodologies and advise on industry insights and available talent.

Andy’s career began with the John Lewis Partnership – during an eight year spell he held positions in retail management leadership before moving into a HR & Talent Management position. During this time his focus was on external attraction, retention, and internal talent development planning through the business at cluster level.

Andy joined Nigel Wright in 2017, since then his primary focus has been leading the commercial desk across the EMEA region, placing senior level candidates across a mix of publicly quoted, private equity backed and privately owned food and beverage and consumer goods businesses. Andy’s functional expertise are deeply rooted in senior sales, marketing, and finance search projects.