3. The US has “Lemon Law”
The UK doesn’t.
We do make
Exceptional Lemonade
4. IRONY
My first “lemon” was in the US
NEW YORK
• Retained Search & Selection Model
• Location, Location, Location - near Wall St
• Top clients: Enron, Global Crossing,
Worldcom, Tyco, GE, Coca Cola
5. My second happened around the same time
ANDERSON EXECUTIVE SEARCH
• High-end Search boutique in… Watford
• Moved Team of 5 to London
• Plan to take it to NY & elsewhere
• Clients - Arthur Anderson, BT Nth
America
6. Challenges
• US model is different
• Boston / Stanford nearer a client
• Watford staff liked Watford ?!?
• We can rely on our clients while we
fix them …
8. What Happened ?
• NY model different to Retained Search
• Dotcom bubble burst
• Lost our top tech / consulting / dotcom clients
• AND Enron / Andersen happened
• Location - wrong in US
• Anderson brand better than location / people
view ?
• 2 LEMONS but lots of lessons learned !
10. Early 1998: Things were going well
Moscow & Kiev
• 60 staff & growing
• Plans to double that
• Additional premises signed up
• Life was grand
11. Aug-Sept 1998:
Russian Crisis
• Came back early from honeymoon
• 60 staff down to 6
• Stock & Currency Markets Collapse
• Inflation 84%,
• Many bank closed down, one bad debt
• Landlord dealt with
• Another lemon??
12. 1998 - 2007
GET THROUGH IT & GROW
• Founder & CEO
• Shareholders & Management
• Team
• Finance & Credit Control Team
• Stay in the market
13. Fast forward to 2007:
>100 staff, Moscow & Yekaterinburg
• Dominant in market
• EBIT > $3.6m
• Real Value Created
• Time was right
• Appoint broker who knew Russia (not Rec
Sector)
14. 2007-2008:
First Deal – Jilted at the altar
• Buyer had to divert fund elsewhere
• Senior Team began marketing to the sector
• Got 3 credible offers
• Chose FiveTen’s offer
• Celebrated
15. 6mths later in 2008
• Despite Lehman & the rest – it’s a good
business
• Antal Russia continues to grow with great
returns
• Celebrating 20 years in careers
• Now in 3 offices, 2 countries in CIS
100% LEMONADE
Today:
16.
17. Poland: Opened 1996
Then in early 2004
• Arrived in Warsaw
• Total Team Defection
• 20 set to walk out, except 1 Finnish chap
• This wasn’t going to be easy
18. Poland: 2004
• We’d always had expat management
• Asked staff who they admire most
• Artur Skiba made MD
• He kept 19 of the 20 (+ the Finn)
• Competitor got 1 former expat MD
• And 20 cars they had ordered
19. Poland: 2004-2013
• Investment in team and management
• Antal Poland larger than Hays / MP
• 3 Offices - Warsaw, Krakow & Wroclaw
• Staff from 20 to 100+
• Market red hot, the only economy to escape
• Used a well known “Big 4” broker in Poland
20. Poland: 2013
• We still had to market it outside Poland
• Business sold to WorkService
• Only listed staffing group on Poland
exchange
• Now in Czech Rep and further plans
100% LEMONADE
21. Is Making Lemonade worth it?
Antal deals (buy & sell) worth $45m since 2008.
Anderson Exec Search Parkside Recruitment
Antal Russia Alpha Financial Jobs
Antal Poland Antal China
+ various non recruitment deals & more planned
Despite selling 50% of the group in 2008, went on
to generate > $10m trading EBIT
22. Key To Do List
• Generalist? Only if you dominate market
• Keep swimming!
• Capacity? Have internal capacity to handle the
“deal”
• Don’t miss your numbers!
• Overseas? Do research but Just Do It!
• Brokers? Yes, specialists with international
reach
• Team? Fundamental - Involve & Incentivise
• Hit or exceed your numbers!
23. 3R
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