CASE_STUDY:
WOLSELEY

WOLSELEY

COMPANY:

WOLSELEY

SECTOR:

HR & Finance

SPECIALISM:

Large Corporates, Sales & Marketing, Temporary Staffing

About

Wolseley is the UK’s No1 Plumbing & Heating Distributor with over £1bn turnover. Headquartered in Warwick, UK & a share service centre in Ripon, Yorkshire.

Client Overview

Wolseley have been on multiple acquisition sprees since 2021, with the latest acquisition in Jan 25 requiring a new Managing Director to oversee the business operating in a stand alone capacity.

Our Results

The Outcome

Vivo Delivered a Longlist within 10 days of the brief and presented the shortlist on week 4,

Vivo presented 6 Candidates who all fit the requirements, from their major competitors.

Out of these 6, 2 were taken through to the presentation stages and 1 was successfully offered at the end of the process

Some key results:

  • From being briefed to start date took just 9 weeks
  • Headhunt of a niche set of skills with only 30 candidates in the whole country.
  • The MD has started to introduce major changes to the BlueBay operation, improving efficiencies and working on growth plan for the group.

Our Approach

Vivo were engaged by the Director of Talent and the MD of Wolseley Infrastructure to oversee a confidential search for an MD to lead the BlueBay Building Products business.

We had very clear requirements, an extremely strong operational leader, who has run a sales function & operation with a turnover of £60m to £100m. The candidate had to have had specific knowledge of the building products space and understand the Civils & Infrastructure side.

We focused on the following:

  • Market Mapping of all of the Civils & Infrastructure businesses across the UK & Ireland
  • Forensic search of every MD, Ops Director, COO & Sales Director within these businesses.

Due to the discreet nature of the role & the need to work covertly, we agreed on a specific recruitment plan that involved a Longlist Presentation &; a final shortlist of 6 Candidates.

Why It Matters

This project highlights our understanding of the exec hiring landscape—knowing where to find the right people, how to engage them, and how to deliver quickly when timing really matters. It also shows the value of getting the brief right and sticking to a clear, focused process. Having worked with Wolseley for over a decade, Vivo knew the type of cultural fit needed to succeed, this allowed us to present a diverse, but elite shortlist.

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