Appointing a New CFO | The Institute of Customer Service

10 / Jul / 2025

Executive Heads’ Success Story: Appointing a New CFO Client: The Institute of Customer Service Challenge: Finding a dynamic CFO to drive growth and double membership. Approach: Collaborated with the CEO, used behavioral profiling, and conducted a thorough search. Outcome: Successfully appointed a CFO who aligns with the Institute’s goals and culture. The Company The […]

Craig Elvin

Executive Heads’ Success Story: Appointing a New CFO

Client: The Institute of Customer Service
Challenge: Finding a dynamic CFO to drive growth and double membership.
Approach: Collaborated with the CEO, used behavioral profiling, and conducted a thorough search.
Outcome: Successfully appointed a CFO who aligns with the Institute’s goals and culture.

The Company

The Institute of Customer Service (Institute”The Institute”) are the UK’s professional membership body for customer service, working across multiple sectors to drive customer service excellence since 1996.

Customer service was once seen as an afterthought and a forgotten element of a business. The Institute made it their mission to get Boards to recognise how integral customer service is to the success of an organisation. Through insights, training, and developing standards, The Institute is creating a world where excellent customer service is demanded, delivered and seen to make a positive impact on organisational performance and the wider economy.

Headquartered in London, The Institute currently has over 350 organisational members, ranging from large corporates like John Lewis, Amazon and Natwest to public sector bodies like HM Passport Office and the Home Office.

The Challenge

Jo Causon, CEO, was looking to appoint a Chief Financial Officer (CFO), as the current CFO, who had been with the Institute for 15 years was retiring. The Institute have ambitious plans over the next few years centred around growth and development of services and the new CFO will play a pivotal part indoubling membership numbers over the next four years.

The appointment of the CFO was of utmost importance to Jo and The Insstitute, as they would be responsible for finance, investments and be a trusted advisor. The Institute sought not just a financial leader, but a dynamic force embodying drive, goal orientation, and exceptional interpersonal skills. As the right hand to the CEO, this role offered unparalleled authority to shape the financial future, steering the organisation to success.

The Solution:

Our approach was methodical and efficient, driven by a clear vision.

First, we worked with Jo and the leadership team, including the outgoing CFO, to fully understand the duties and responsibilities, and key expectations of the role.

We then utilised McQuaig behavioural profiling to measure the attitudes and behaviours that potential candidates would require to be successful in the role and ensuring stakeholder alignment.

We meticulously searched the market, identifying top-tier candidates and enticing them into this process ensuring we were targeting passive talent. Through a combination of, pre-screening, and internal interviews we started to hone the list for suitability. Moreover, we delved deep into behavioural profiles, ensuring alignment not just with skills, but with the ethos and culture of The Institute before presenting a final short list of 5 candidates.

Over the next four weeks, we managed a series of three interview stages with the leadership and management teams as well as Non-Executive Members of the board in both a virtual and face-to-face environment culminating in a final CEO conversation at the Executive Heads office with the chosen candidate before they were offered the role.

The Feedback

“Craig and his team delivered exceptional results. His approach is honest, straight forward and diligent. Through his hard work and dedication, he showed he cared. That was a much-welcomed personal touch that was of great benefit to our business”.

Jo Causon CEO – The Institute of Customer Service

“I was impressed by the level of service. I was kept in the loop at all times with honest and open conversations. I wasn’t just another candidate on their books, but an individual they genuinely wanted to get to know and support to get the right role. They’ve clearly got it right to prioritise long-term relationships over short-term gain. I will definitely be recommending them!”

Winnie Armah CFO – The Institute of Customer Service

“Very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed working with Craig. He made the process easy and really understood our business needs.”

Kelsey Pienaar EA to CEO – The Institute of Customer Service

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Appointing a New CFO | The Institute of Customer Service

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