Union Hand-Roasted Coffee

Union H-R Coffee is a highly successful premium artisan drinks business ethically & sustainably sourced coffee beans, importing, processing & roasting their high-end coffee for the boutique wholesale, retail and the B2C online eCommerce consumer markets. With the quality of their products at the heart of this great brand, the business is supported by a broad customer portfolio comprising small-medium sized food service enterprises and instantly recognisable household brand names including BA (Global first class & business class lounges & inflight) Waitrose (UK wide), Ocado, Gather & Gather (MITIE) and Gail’s Bakery amongst many others.

The business has expanded rapidly and is developing, with ambitious plans to continue target growth of 20%+ year on year, and with the significant progress of several new channels & products including Cold-brew coffee, on-line retail B2C and retail, has resulted in exciting opportunities for employee development. Working at Union feels like you are in a start-up business, but within an established enterprise and in a genuinely dynamic organisation. 

Our history with Union 
Harcourt Matthews have been proactively involved with and retained as a preferred supplier for over 8 years

Situation & Objective
Harcourt Matthews is a Recruitment Business Partner to their Senior Management and various functional teams and we have played a great part in imparting knowledge of “what good looks like” in organisation structure & functional behaviours and subsequently supported their rapid growth

Actions
HR Business reviews at various stages of company growth, sourcing and placing people in interim and permanent roles, sustaining the establishment and evolution of various functions & skills lines including: – 

  • Finance & Accounting including
    • Strategy and 
    • Process & Business Systems Transformation
  • Sales (Wholesale)
  • Digital Marketing & eCommerce 
  • Operations Management 

Examples: – 

In Finance & Accounting
We have provided a recruitment advisory service aiding in the definition of needs in the short, medium and long term which initially involved the owners bringing onboard their first Finance Director to subsume the day-to-day financial management responsibilities from an outsourced accountancy firm; this hands-on roles led to a strategic & commercial role play paving the way for much improved strategic & financial insights and encompassed ERP systems transformation & implementation and the development of their London HQ Commercial and Financial Reporting team.

In Sales (Wholesale), Digital Marketing & eCommerce
We have provided a recruitment advisory service aiding in the definition of needs in the short, medium and long term which involved supporting the development of the: –  

  • Sales (Wholesale), Digital Marketing & eCommerce 

We have provided a recruitment advisory service aiding in the definition of needs in the short, medium and long term. Harcourt Matthews established & utilised various recruitment methods from advertising campaigns and networking as well as database contingency candidate sourcing processes

Results & Benefits for Union using Harcourt Matthews
As a preferred supplier Harcourt Matthews has worked closely with the Owners, the MD and the Board (SMT), more importantly, met with and contributed in briefings led by some or all of the management team, consequently everybody had been on message, advice has been sought & given and challenges dealt with, complimenting the recruitment partnership & process which has led to speedier recruitment and Harcourt Matthews delivering results as their preferred supplier

Harcourt Matthews has successfully recruited key Senior Directors and has an ongoing brief to identify talent in the marketplace to backfill those moving on into the organisation alongside the provision of advice on salaries and market conditions

Roles & Teams we have recruited for recently – Interim, temporary & permanent salaries or FTC £50k – £120k and include: 

Finance & Accounting including Strategy and Process & Business Systems Transformation

  • Commercial Finance Director (Interim & Perm)
  • Financial Controller
  • Management Accountant (interim & perm) 
  • Financial Analyst
  • AR & Credit Control (Manager & team; interim & perm)
  • AP Manager (interim & perm)

Sales (Wholesale)

  • Sales Managers (National Accounts management)
  • Sales Administration Office Manager
  • Sales Administration & Customer Experience 

Digital Marketing & eCommerce 

  • Brand and eCommerce Marketing Director
  • eCommerce & Online Digital Marketing Manager

Operations Management – various roles

  • Administration Assistant