Cherry Professional - Relationship Led Recruitment
Managing Director
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Managing Director
High-Growth SME | East Midlands (On-Site)
The Opportunity
We are exclusively retained to appoint a Managing Director on behalf of a high-performing, privately owned UK business.
This is a pivotal board-level appointment offering full responsibility for the day-to-day leadership, performance and scalability of a fast-growing organisation with revenues in excess of £80m.
The business has experienced significant growth in recent years and now requires an exceptional leader to:
- Strengthen operational infrastructure
- Embed scalable processes and systems
- Drive profitability and performance
- Lead the next phase of growth and development
Working closely with an entrepreneurial CEO, the successful candidate will play a critical role in shaping the future of the business.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Leadership
- Oversee and optimise the performance of all core business functions
- Ensure operational efficiency, service delivery and cost control
- Lead a complex, multi-site operation
P&L & Financial Performance
- Full accountability for financial performance and P&L delivery
- Implement robust KPI frameworks and reporting structures
- Identify risks and drive proactive solutions
Growth & Strategy Execution
- Execute the CEO's strategic growth plans
- Support continued expansion, including potential acquisitions
- Ensure operational readiness for further scale
Leadership & Culture
- Lead and develop an established senior leadership team
- Drive accountability, alignment and performance standards
- Build organisational capability and succession plans
- Maintain a culture centred on ownership, trust and delivery
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Candidate Profile
We are seeking an exceptional Managing Director or CEO with a proven track record of leading and scaling complex SME businesses. The successful candidate will demonstrate the capability to build upon significant growth already achieved and lead the organisation through its next stage of expansion.
Essential Experience
- 5-10+ years' experience operating at Managing Director or CEO level within a growing SME environment
- Experience leading privately held businesses with revenues in the £80m-£150m turnover range
- Full P&L responsibility for businesses employing 300+ people
- Proven success leading through an established senior leadership team and managing multiple functional directors
- Demonstrable experience scaling a business through a period of substantial growth, whether through organic expansion, acquisition, operational transformation or market growth
- Experience within complex, multi-site environments where logistics, distribution, supply chain and operational excellence are fundamental to success
- Background within B2B distribution, logistics, FMCG or other operationally intensive, product-led sectors
Leadership Style
- Commercially astute and data-driven
- Hands-on and operationally credible
- Comfortable balancing strategic leadership with effective execution
- Decisive, resilient and capable of operating at pace
- Proven ability to build high-performing leadership teams and drive accountability throughout an organisation
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Personal Attributes
- Values-driven with a low-ego, high-accountability mindset
- Strong communicator who builds trust quickly
- Credible with shareholders, stakeholders, customers and employees alike
- Able to inspire confidence and lead through periods of change and growth
The Environment
- Entrepreneurial and growth-focused
- Strong leadership team already in place
- Business transitioning from rapid growth to operational maturity
- Opportunity to make a visible and lasting impact
Fully on-site role at the East Midlands head office, commutable from Nottingham, Lincoln, Peterborough, Grantham and Newark.
Package
- c.£200,000 basic salary
- Car allowance
- Performance bonus
- LTIP
Whilst a remuneration package has been defined for this appointment, we are open to engaging with exceptional Managing Director and CEO calibre candidates whose current compensation may sit above the advertised range. If you match the brief and this applies to you, please contact us directly and in confidence. Enhanced packages will be considered on a case-by-case basis for candidates who demonstrate an outstanding fit against the requirements of the role.
Why Apply?
- True Managing Director role with full accountability
- Opportunity to lead a high-growth, scaling business
- Work directly alongside a dynamic and ambitious CEO / Owner
- Shape systems, processes and long-term strategy
- Play a key role in the next stage of the organisation's evolution
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