Case Study

Informa – Placing an interim finance leader to support the growth strategy

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In Summary

Informa, an international leader in B2B information services, connects businesses and professionals with the knowledge they need to succeed. The FTSE 100 company, home to over 12,000 people across 30 countries, organises industry-leading events, provides access to critical research, and delivers specialist digital services across diverse sectors.

The Situation

At the end of 2021, Informa launched a 2021 – 2024 growth acceleration plan. Due to the success of this strategy, Informa has been growing at pace, both organically and through acquisition. This has led to them identifying the need to build out areas of their Global Business Services (GBS) and finance functions.

Initially, Informa was looking to fill a skills gap by bringing in an Interim Group Financial Controller as part of the financial leadership team to lead their group financial reporting.

The Solution

With this role being business critical, speed and quality of service were of the utmost importance. BIE partnered with Informa to understand the requirements of the role to establish a clear mandate.

For this finance leadership role, BIE drew on their depth of relationships in their interim network to identify an individual who had experience in leading group financial reporting in an organisation going through significant growth. The individual also had experience of working in an organisation executing an acquisition strategy. The candidate was presented to Informa swiftly after receiving the initial instruction, and following a successful interview accepted the position.

The Outcome

The Group Financial Controller interim appointment proved successful. The role changed from interim to permanent after six months.
Following this appointment BIE partnered with Informa on hiring permanent critical roles in the GBS including a Head of Global Shared Service Delivery and a Head of Business Process Excellence.
BIE continues to partner with Informa to fill business critical roles across the GBS and transformation team.

Client's View

"BIE has proven to be a valuable partner for multiple hires. When we were struggling with a recruitment process via another search firm that was taking too long and producing limited results, BIE were able to step-in. They quickly assessed the situation, understood our needs and delivered high-quality candidates. Their professionalism, efficiency, speed and market insights were invaluable. We would highly recommend them."

Kathy Smart, Head of Talent Acquisition Delivery