Telent

With annual revenues of over £500 million, Telent specialises in the effective operation of critical national infrastructure and are at the heart of many of the UK and Ireland’s best-known brands.  They operate within various industry sectors including Rail, Traffic, Public Safety, Defence, Service Providers, Enterprise and Public Sector.

Telent design, deliver and support solutions and services which enable organisations to create, improve and operate the ICT and communication networks that their businesses depend on. Their industry expertise, technology partnerships, accreditations and committed teams make Telent the partner of choice for organisations at the forefront of the digital revolution.

Customers include (Telent News) BSkyB Network roll-out; COLT Field Maintenance; BT Cable Services; Roadside Toll Collection; Tube Lines Maintenance; Highways Agency TechMAC; E.ON Infrastructure Upgrade; Merseyside Fire & Rescue; Cable & Wireless support; FiReControl Communications; Firelink Support; Met Police ICCS Support; Metronet’s Microwave OPO; South West Trains; and West Coast Main Line.

Situation
Following a lead from our research team regarding the imminent recruitment of a senior finance role, our MD contacted the Commercial FD, who visited our offices to discuss recruitment, for this role, and plans for the forthcoming year. This led on to a meeting with the CFO and the Head of Strategy and subsequent discussions with other senior finance managers, HR and the in house recruitment team.

Internal reviews of existing and new business opportunities identified the need to leverage higher calibre and quality of head office and division commercial accounting & finance staff, in particular, Business Finance Partners, Planning & Analysis and Financial/Management reporting functions, where the CFO sought to make step changes in the level and capability of the team, and at the same time reduce the number of temporary staff within the whole finance community in Warwick, London, Chorley, Basildon and the UK projects.

Our key objectives were:
To develop an understanding of and replenish the teams and increase the depth in high calibre commercial individuals within the organisation undergoing transformation and growth
To identify commercially and technically focused individuals who would evolve best practice in business partnering, planning & analysis, reporting and financial control

At various points, Harcourt Matthews established recruitment campaigns and candidate sourcing processes for interim, temporary and permanent employees encompassing:

Accessing our current UK candidate network & UK wide CV database, existing contacts and gaining new referrals/recommendations
Accessing several Jobsite & CV databases covering the active UK candidate market
Advertising on several job sites
Using our internal resourcers and several 3rd party outsourced research businesses contracted to identify and to supply scarce candidate resource (passive & non-active individuals)
Specific sector headhunting campaigns complementing the above approach
Messaging programmes to specific CIMA, ACCA and ACA individuals who fulfilled the brief

This approach resulted in the successful recruitment of several qualified accountants and part qualified accounting & finance staff and inclusion in the preferred supplier list for the UK business. In addition, we have been asked to support other functional disciplines including: –

  • Strategy
  • Procurement & Category Management
  • Project Management
  • Operations

Internal reviews of existing and new businesses identified the need to leverage higher calibre and quality staff for head office, regions and Contracts / Projects accounting & finance staff amongst other functions including Procurement, HR and Contract Management. The Group MD and the CFO sought to make step changes in the level and capability of these teams and at the same time reduce the number of temporary staff within the whole business community in London and the rest of the UK.

Jobs recruited for include: Interim, temporary & permanent

Accounting & Finance
Accounts Payable Assistant
Admin Assistant
AP Accounts Payable Manager
Assistant Management Accountant
Business Controller
Business Partner – Commercial Manager
Chief Accountant
Commercial Analyst
Commercial FD (Interim)
Commercial Finance Controller
Cost Administrator – Basildon
Cost Administrator – Lancashire
Cost Administrator – Leicester
Finance Accounting Manager (AR Manager)
Finance Assistant
Finance Business Partner
Finance Manager – Basildon
Finance Manager – Chorley
Finance Manager – Leicester
Financial Analyst – Cash
Financial Planning Analyst
Financial Reporting Manager
General Ledger Manager
Group Financial Accountant
Head of Financial Planning & Reporting
Head office Ledgers Supervisor
IFRS Accountant
Management Accountant
Oracle 12 Project Manager
Project Accountant
Project Accountant – Major Projects & Maintenance
Reconciliations Accountant
Sales Ledger Manager
Senior Business Partner
Senior Cost Administrator – Basildon
Senior Cost Administrator – Lancashire
Senior Cost Administrator- Leicester
Treasurer

Strategy & Bidding
Strategy Analysts (New Markets)
Bid Manager

Procurement & Category Management
Category Manager – Indirects & Professional Services
Category Manager – IT
Category Manager – Technology (Cross Rail bid)
Head of Procurement

Project Management 
Project Directors
Project Managers