JOELLE Warren MBE – she was awarded her MBE in the New Year’s Honours list for services to business – founded executive search firm Warren Partners on the principle of delivering “leadership consulting with heart, because people matter”.
A firm believer in the importance of family life and giving back to the local community, she has shown that you can stay true to your values and still succeed in business – today the company has a turnover of £5m and profits of £500,000.
“It is not always a transparent industry when it comes to costs and processes,” says Warren. “Our approach is to tell the truth and treat people decently, give feedback and do what you say you are going to do, when you say – that plays out with both candidates and clients and suppliers. I didn’t particularly expect that to be different but it is.”
The company, which employs 30 staff across its offices in Cheshire, London and Edinburgh, was an early champion of diversity in the workplace. Warren herself was involved in establishing the North West and other regional branches of the Two Percent Club, a network of women leaders from across the country which drives forward the issue of the under-representation of women in boardrooms.
EY and TheBusinessDesk.com have worked together on a project celebrating some of the north’s most successful entrepreneurs, looking at their journey to the top and the challenges they have overcome as their business has grown and developed.
This interview is just one of many in our free downloadable 19 page PDF supplement on Driving Entrepreneurship.
To promote greater gender diversity, Warren Partners has adopted a voluntary code of conduct for executive search firms and is one of just eight accredited by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in the ‘Beyond FTSE350’ category.
Warren says: “We are big on diversity. Part of that is about being treated equally – we have a lot of women in the business and men who share that ethos. We always have women on our long lists and shortlists – it is ingrained in our DNA.
“We have a strong belief that a diverse board is a better board.”
The firm has taken on Alastair Da Costa, of interantional law firm DLA Piper, as executive chairman from January this year, who before this role had taken a year’s secondment at chief executive of the Princes Trust.
“There are so many things I was to do within the business and to develop further. As the original entrepreneur and major owner I could do with external input – we are taking our own advice and doing it for ourselves,” says Warren.
The plan is to have reached a turnover of £6m by 2017, and to have around 40 staff.
“It would put us into the top 20 in the UK for what we do,” says Warren, adding: “We will also have a plan for international growth – that is one of the big reasons Alastair has been brought in.”
EY’s annual Entrepreneur Of The Year is still open for entries. Apply here
This interview is just one of many in our free downloadable 19 page PDF supplement on Driving Entrepreneurship.
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