2020: What A Year!
Founding Director, Vanessa Moon reflects on 2020 and looks forward to creating a ‘Super Moon’ in 2021.
At Moon Executive Search we are blessed with having a great company name to play with, so that is why we are going to have a Super Moon in 2021! It is our 21st year of trading and we feel particularly thankful to our connections, clients and candidates for their contributions towards our business.
I wanted to highlight what 2020 was like for our business and why we are so positive about 2021.
What a Year!
Last year, for us at Moon, was a year of compassion, togetherness, and resilience. What was so wonderful was how the team supported each other and we took time out to laugh and cry when we needed to.
My memories of our team zoom magic show and our virtual Christmas afternoon tea party (see below) will stay with me forever. The Pandemic affected so many and made us all stop and think about what is important and how we interact with each other. Despite all the economic uncertainty, we have seen a great deal of love, kindness and good will.
From a business perspective, many of you know we are a traditional search firm, so roles are often confidential and not advertised. We typically work with clients on projects such as new acquisitions, new routes to market and building new teams. In 2020, there were four clear themes; transformation projects where clients were changing direction, digitalisation, e-commerce projects where the route to market changed to online and new Board opportunities where clients were keen to refresh their management teams.
Our work focussed on many new C Suite roles, which is always a thrill to know your hire will impact and reimagine that business. Private Equity was prevalent as well and we led on some significant searches post PE investment. Our website reflects some of our clients and champions our public case studies, as well as our Build Your Board page that showcases some of our network.
A Thriving Team
Simon Quinn and I worked jointly on our C-Suite campaigns. It was a privilege to partner with wonderful companies that made incredible contributions to society during the pandemic.
Gemma Wilks began a new IT search division, expanding our portfolio to include technology in the year that remote working became central to all our lives. Her persistence has paid off and she bid for and won several major contracts, including one with a global tech firm to supply key people from Project Managers to Cloud and Infrastructure Architects. She also appointed several mid management roles and took the time to write about the balancing act of WFH and tutoring her children.
Sandy Hinks had a phenomenal year as Head of Charity Practice, finding talented individuals to make a difference where it truly matters. The non-profit organisations that have worked with Moon have uplifted society and supported their beneficiaries dutifully during testing times. Sandy’s roles have varied from a CEO of a national charity, to searching for a Chair of an Island!
Abbie Richards looked after all our GDPR and Compliance as well as updating our Risk register to include Covid-19 and all the protocols around office and home working.
Both Gemma, Sandy and Abbie have achieved all of this whilst working part-time and home-schooling their children and we will be forever grateful for their hard work during this testing year.
Our Non-Executive Consultant, Peaches Golding OBE, Lord Lieutenant to the Queen for Bristol and Avon, became an Honorary Captain of the Royal Navy Reserves. Her energy, candour and humour have been an inspiration for the team in 2020.
Brian Frost, our Finance Director, continues to provide strong strategic and financial guidance to our business as well as working with his portfolio of clients, which range from retail to manufacturing.
Great initiatives were also started during 2020; we were thrilled to be one of the First 50 signatories for new CBI change the race ratio initiative, a group of senior leaders committed to taking action to increase racial and ethnic participation in our businesses.
In terms of hires at Moon, David Masson joined us in February to develop and oversee all our marketing campaigns, adding invaluable creativity to our offering and Natalie Mockett joined Moon soon after as my Executive Assistant, taking over from Chevon who has gone onto a dance career. Natalie has been a great addition to the team with organisational skills and a good dose of humour that helped ease the team through 2020.
What insights did we gain? We were reminded that we have a great network, and we work brilliantly as a team.
What lessons did we learn? We learnt that as a company we have great resilience and are a that business that truly cares.
Social Responsibility
As a business, we never forget our community and giving back; we continue to support many charities such as the MTM Awards, Babbasa, Insane Root, Young heroes Awards, Bristol Beats Cancer Research, the ICAEW SW Dinner and the Lord Mayors children’s appeal amongst many others. Our giving and charitable support is one of the most important aspects of our ethos.
Certain causes became even more vital during the pandemic. We became a founding member of the Children’s Hospice South West Business Club and are excited to see how we can extend their reach and help the amazing work that they do. We also supported the Children’s Scrapstore in Bristol to help helping businesses divert reusable waste away from landfill or energy recovery to help improve art and play opportunities for children, young people and adults.
We worked in partnership with Bristol UWE with their Bristol Distinguished Address Series (BDAS), featuring some prestigious speakers with fascinating life stories. We look forward to the addresses of 2021.
The responsibility we feel towards our connections and their families has grown throughout 2020, perhaps because of our introduction to so many living rooms, studies and kitchens (and the families that live there). This was particularly in evidence on VE day when David Masson put together the most wonderful homage to all our ancestors who were involved in the war.
As a team, we have weathered the storm and in 2021, look forward to introducing more clients to people that can build resilience, improve digital capabilities, and create sustainable growth.
Lastly, we could not have done without all your support in 2020, so to all our colleagues, we thank you and look forward to celebrating our 21st year of business with you in 2021!
Thank you,
Vanessa Moon
