Businesses in Yorkshire are successfully broadening their international horizons with help from an executive search and selection start-up.
Cooper Edwards, which specialises in mid to senior management and board level recruitment is making its mark on the global recruitment stage by helping businesses that are either already international, or looking to go international, to widen their scope through the strategic placement of overseas candidates.
Since starting-up in 2017, Cooper Edwards has made a number of placements for blue chip organisations operating across Yorkshire, including a French operations director into a capital equipment manufacturer and a Polish international sales manager into another manufacturer in Sheffield to help them increase market share in Europe.
“I’m incredibly fortunate to have built up a well-placed and reliable network of connections around the world over the years, which is now opening up global opportunities to me as a consultant. I can pass this on to my clients to help them achieve their business goals,” said Alex Cooper, founder and director at Cooper Edwards.
“Throughout the course of my career, I have gained experience working in a variety of market sectors in various different business cultures, which has helped me to develop an invaluable knowledge and understanding of overseas markets and how they operate.
“The placement of international talent was not necessarily my focus when I started the business, but it appears that I have found a niche!”
One of the companies benefitting from Cooper Edwards’ wide range of international expertise is Sheffield-based Home Décor, a consumer durables manufacturer for the DIY market and a long-standing client. Home Décor approached Cooper Edwards when the business was looking to make a strategic hire to further develop its European footprint.
Max Crosby-Browne, chief executive officer at Home Décor, said:
“With its multicultural background and understanding of various business cultures, Cooper Edwards was the ideal partner to source an international sales manager for us to expand our market share in mainland Europe.
“The company efficiently and successfully placed a multilingual Polish national with the exact experience we were looking for. After only a few months she is already making a difference, leveraging her strong exposure to our target key accounts across Europe.
“For a large, multinational business, it is still easy to work directly with Alex at Cooper Edwards, she hasn’t lost touch with her roots!”
Cooper Edwards’ personal approach to search and selection sees consultants working closely alongside clients and candidates in order to build relationships and ensure both a professional and cultural fit when making placements.
“Taking the time to get to know what makes clients and candidates tick is really what my job is all about,” Alex explained.
“Getting under the skin of an organisation and working alongside them like an extension of their team enables me to target candidates more carefully to ensure that the placement helps my client to achieve their business objectives.”
Cooper Edwards provides highly-effective search and selection services for businesses operating across the manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and subsea, capital equipment and FMCG sectors.
