Meet the Moon Team

DIRECTOR

Vanessa Moon has over 25 years senior management and board level recruitment experience. She works with a broad portfolio of clients both in the UK and internationally; these range from start-ups, family owned concerns, major banks as well as FTSE Listed businesses. She also has significant experience in the not for profit and charity sectors. She recruits mainly board level roles; covering Non Exec, Chairman, CEO/ MD, FD, Sales, Operations and HR.

Vanessa co-founded Moon Executive Search in 2000 perceiving a need for a return to the personal touch in senior level recruitment and is a firm advocate of the company's core values of being distinctive, ethical and approachable in all their undertakings.

In 2018, in recognition of her contribution and commitment to enterprise development, the third sector and the local community, Vanessa was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration from UWE Bristol. She is currently Master of the Guild of Guardians for 2019/2021. Vanessa has been a member of the South West Regional Council of the CBI since 2003, as well as this, Vanessa is on the Advisory Board of the UWE faculty of Business & Law, Chair for Insane Root Theatre CIO and a Trustee of the Royal West of England Academy. She is also a Co-opted Governor at City of Bristol College and on the Women in Business Task Force for the Bristol Women’s Commission.

Reach Vanessa via email to find out more about Moon Executive Search.

FINANCE DIRECTOR

Brian Frost is a graduate Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of Post Qualification Experience.

He has worked for a £60million manufacturing business as Divisional Director of Finance and as head of finance for a medium sized import and distribution business supplying High Street retailers.

He now acts as a business consultant to a number of entrepreneurial enterprising small businesses advising on strategy, performance and bottom line profitability

NON-EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT

Peaches Golding OBE is Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the City and County of Bristol. She is a Non-Executive Consultant at Moon Consulting, having joined as a Principal Consultant from Business in the Community, where she held a number of roles including regional director, deputy director of a diversity campaign, director of special projects from 1996 to 2011. She was the High Sheriff of Bristol 2010 – 2011. She is also serving as Honorary Captain of the Royal Navy Reserve.

Peaches is Independent Chair of the Bristol Water Challenge Panel which represents the interests of water consumers and assures the industry regulator and is a Trustee of the ss Great Britain. Peaches has held a range of non-executive roles in public, private and voluntary sector organisations including Chair of the ITV Viewer Advisory Panel for ITV West Country, Non-Executive Director of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, a Non-Executive Director of North Bristol Hospital NHS Trust and a Non-Executive Director of GWR West Limited. She was a member of the Ethnic Minority Business Forum, the Home Office representative on the Independent Member Selection Board for Avon & Somerset Police Authority, a Governor of the University of the West of England and a Member of the General Chiropractic Council.

Peaches was awarded an OBE in 2009 for services to minority ethnic people in the South West, an honorary MBA from the University of the West of England in 2010 in recognition of her work in responsible business behaviour in the region and a Doctorate of the University in 2017 for her on-going support of the University and its values. As well as this, the University of Bristol awarded Peaches with an honorary Doctor of Laws in 2018.

DIRECTOR OF SEARCH

Simon is Director of Executive Search at Moon Executive Search and brings nearly 25 years’ experience in the Executive recruitment industry.

Simon began his career managing high volume requirements for several key accounts in London, including the Metropolitan Police, before joining a specialist global financial recruiter to manage senior finance positions.

Joining Moon in 2014, he now manages high-level retained C-Suite, Non-Exec and senior search campaigns for PE and VC backed entities, SMEs, family and owner managed businesses. He operates across multiple sectors regionally, nationally and internationally.

Simon brings a developed network of CEO and Chair contacts within FTSE Plc’s and regularly represents Moon on client panel interviews, as well as providing a board consultancy service for internal promotion processes.

He was made a Director of the business in 2019 in recognition of his high-level experience, knowledge of the market and utmost commitment to integrity and ethical values.

Simon is also Chair of Babbasa which supports disadvantaged young people in Bristol and President of the Old Colstonian Society.

Contact Simon via email to find out more.

HEAD OF CHARITY PRACTICE

Sandy Hinks heads up the Charity Practice at Moon Executive Search, she joined in 2016 and has over 30 years’ experience working within recruitment and consultancy. Sandy has successfully grown the Charity Practice over the last few years, working nationally and locally with many major Charities, not for profit and voluntary groups. Recruiting for C Suite, Trustee, Chair, Company Secretary and Treasurer roles. She has also worked closely with newly established charities working alongside them from conception to launch, building their complete Trustee boards of up to 12 people. Successfully using innovative ways of working collaboratively with organisations to appoint the very best people to create and build exceptional high performing teams.

Before joining Moon Executive Search, Sandy has worked for another executive search business, a global consultancy recruiter specialising in Finance, a national IT recruiter as well as a boutique recruitment agency.

Sandy has a wide range of experience recruiting to and advising boards across all sectors and she has a particular skill in identifying talent and working with individuals and organisations to ensure that the most successful appointments are made. She has led searches which have resulted in the successful appointments of Chief Executives and Directors across all disciplines within the not for profit and private sector. Sandy is also a qualified REC professional recruiter.

More recently she has been working for a construction/property development family business, as well as running a successful 180 acre organic beef farm which was set up 15 years ago.

Contact Sandy via email to find out more.

EXECUTIVE SEARCH CONSULTANT

Gemma joined Moon Executive Search in 2013, and has worked in various roles, building strong relationships with both clients and candidates along her Moon journey. At the start of 2019 she was promoted to, and appointed Executive Search Consultant, which has led to successfully recruiting across all sectors at senior management and board level, as well as supporting our charity practice, managing high level search campaigns within the third sector as well as successful recruitment for trustees across the UK.

Gemma also leads on our IT recruitment search offering and has been focussing on technical roles across the thriving South West technology and software industry sectors, completing multiple search and selection campaigns for IT Project Managers, Cloud Architects, Unified Communications, Management roles and IT support.

Gemma is very organised, and is a great communicator, she prides herself on being a transparent executive search recruiter, always taking an open and honest approach.

Please contact Gemma via email to find out more.

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

Abbie has a strong background in commercial customer service, having worked within the healthcare and financial services industries throughout her career. Highly experienced in working in pressurised environments, Abbie’s outstanding communication skills, coupled with her multi-tasking abilities, has seen her lead several teams in her previous roles.

Abbie joined the Moon Executive team as our Office Administrator in February 2017. She is responsible for the day to day administration of the office, providing executive support to the directors, processing of applications and building strong working relationships.

Abbie looks after our GDPR, ensuring that Moon Executive Search are compliant in all of our undertakings. Responsibility for the company Risk Register also falls under Abbie’s remit, as well as managing our Build Your Board proposition, working closely with our connections to create profiles showcasing their skills and experience.

With extensive SME experience and her DSDM Agile Accreditation, Abbie responds well to change and is well positioned to lead Moon Executive Search’s operations, whilst ensuring that the recruitment team can deliver superb results for our clients.

MARKETING EXECUTIVE

David joined Moon Executive Search earlier this year and brings a wealth of experience in full stack marketing. He has time spent working client-side across e-commerce, automotive and commodities, in both B2B and B2C marketing.

David has led on many new initiatives for Moon Executive Search – a new look website, branding, digital content, client case studies, video content for client campaigns, running events on topics such as Corporate Finance and Private Equity raising with professional services and key partners, articles with high profile guest speakers.

Previously, David has overseen the digital identity for a brand-new business in America and more recently led a leading print brand through their digital transformation including their website development and social media presence.

His understanding of digital and traditional marketing will help showcase the qualities that has brought twenty years of success to Moon. David’s eye-catching content is inspired by his appreciation for both culture and technology. His experience of developing websites, improving SEO and implementing brand strategy will help build our digital presence.

Outside of work, David’s has a passion for sports, comedy, music, tech and gaming.

Natalie joined the Moon team as Executive Assistant to Vanessa Moon in 2020, she supports Vanessa with confidential campaigns, handling sensitive data and a busy diary. Alongside her main role, she provides support to the wider Moon team as well as monitoring the REC Business & Legal Support updates, where she is responsible for keeping abreast of important business documentation and guidelines, ensuring Moon Executive Search are kept up to date. She assists with website and marketing and utilises her organisation skills for Moon events, liaising between guests and key note speakers to ensure everything runs smoothly. Natalie has a strong background in the corporate sector providing high level support to a number of Directors. She is highly organised with proven experience when dealing in fast-paced customer facing roles. Natalie is also Secretary for Business Beats Cancer Bristol who bring business leaders together to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK.

Previous to Moon, Natalie has worked primarily within the property sector generating a mixture of experience in both Personal Assistant and Administrative support roles. Natalie prides herself on her organisational skills and is always keen to get involved and help wherever she can.”