Handicare is a €270m manufacturer of assisted living products backed by Nordic Capital. Their business is founded on making everyday life easier for the elderly, infirm and disabled. The business was originally founded in Norway in 1980 and has subsequently grown to be a truly international company with operations in 11 countries and a distributor network supplying more than 40 countries.
Brief
The assisted living sector has been highly fragmented with very few larger businesses and a long tail of SME suppliers. This has provided an ideal opportunity for PE investment in, what is, a growing market. The complexity of being a leader in the sector as well as having the operational challenge of integrating acquisitions, makes for a dynamic environment. One that requires a leadership team with a very strong commercial focus along with a strategic outlook.
Drayton Partners Approach
Handicare have needed support on a number of senior appointments within the UK market. Each role has required a bespoke solution, targeting top level talent to a product sector that is not particularly well appreciated. Drayton have been instrumental in hunting out this talent – utilising all of our tools and techniques to identify individuals who will be able to make a game-changing contribution. We initially mapped the market, targeting key individuals who would bring the appropriate knowledge and experience. Secondly we focussed on assessing these individual’s to ensure that their approach would be complimentary to the Handicare culture. On these projects we partnered with an Occupational Psychologist who conducted in-depth personal assessments to ensure the most comprehensive fit. This technique proved particularly effective, providing highly targeted, highly relevant shortlists.
Outcome
Drayton have been highly effective in delivering top-talent to Handicare and have successfully recruited the Group Operations Director, Customer Services Director and Commercial Director.