Grace Blue Partnership Names Consumer Practice Leader
October 11, 2019 – London-based executive search firm Grace Blue Partnership has appointed David Nobbs as partner and head of consumer as it builds out its consumer brands practice across EMEA. The appointment follows rapid growth of Grace Blue’s brand-side leadership briefs for clients including Aldi, Amazon, Colgate, Spotify and V&A.
Mr. Nobbs will report to Grace Blue founder, Juliet Timms, and in partnership with its leadership teams in the U.S. and APAC to respond to global client requirements, alongside his leadership of the EMEA consumer brands business.
Mr. Nobbs and his teams will partner with consumer brands on a wide range of senior executive roles and support clients with driving transformation and putting the consumer at the heart of their business. This will extend Grace Blue’s services beyond marketing and commercial functions into leadership roles where there is a requirement for broader skillsets and outside category experience.
“Consumer brands are looking for leadership talent that can capitalize on the strength of their brand, their content and their connection with their customer”, Juliet Timms, founder of Grace Blue Partnership, said. “David’s appointment builds on the broad, varied work we have been engaged in helping business in all sectors meet the new dynamic demands being placed on leadership teams. We know leadership teams with the greatest diversity of career experience can be the most successful.”
Mr. Nobbs has almost 15 years’ experience in executive search and research, predominantly working with clients across consumer industries.
This has included retail, financial services, FMCG, travel, leisure, technology, media, entertainment and telecoms across multiple geographies including the U.K. and Ireland, Europe, USA and Australia. Most recently, he was a managing partner at Fortune Hill, an international boutique search firm partnering with a portfolio of FTSE/Aim listed, PE & VC backed and privately-owned consumer businesses to support start-up, new market entry, growth, transformation and turnaround activities.
During his career, Mr. Nobbs has also gained FTSE100 client-side experience with Lloyds Banking Group where he led talent research and executive recruitment across the group supporting senior hiring, talent pipelining and diversity projects.
“I’m delighted to join the Grace Blue business and their world-class team of executive search and selection specialists,” said Mr. Nobbs. “We are perfectly positioned to help businesses which are dealing with tremendous change – technological, political and societal – to create leadership teams that put the customer at the heart of all activity.”
Global Executive Search Agency
Grace Blue is a global executive search agency specializing in the advertising, marketing and communications sectors. The firm has placed senior talent in this space globally, including CEOs, presidents, chief creative officers, heads of planning, chief financial officers and chief marketing officers.
In June, Grace Blue APAC has formed a partnership with Cavalry Freelancing in an effort to help organizations hire effective contingent workforce and skilled contractors who would be ready to take up mid- and senior-level marketing roles. Australia-based freelance recruitment platform Cavalry will be expanding to Singapore and Greater China with this partnership with Grace Blue.
About one in four CXOs in the APAC region have said that a contingent workers make up about 30 percent of their total workforce. The search firm expects this percentage to rise. “Hiring the right freelance resource is crucial in this day and age of the gig economy,” said Grace Blue. “The key lies in getting high-quality and skilled professionals who are reliable and available – at the right price.”
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
