"Their speed & ability to uncover candidates matched our needs”

James Stewart, the Chief Financial Officer of Orbital Education, has a career marked by professional excellence, including winning Finance Director of the Year in 2022 at the Finance Awards North West, as well as Northern Financial Director for Turnaround Success in 2019.

His collaboration with Robert Walters started after the team had successfully recruited talent in Orbital Education’s IT and marketing teams. Since then, this partnership has grown to also include finance appointments on a global scale.

James recalls, "We previously used Robert Walters for IT and Marketing positions in the UK. In 2022, we identified the need for a new role on the UK finance team.”

"We had been pleased with Robert Walters’ communication. Their speed and ability to uncover candidates matched our needs.”

Robert Walters was able to successfully find a Commercial Analyst to join the finance team at Orbital Education. Not long after, Robert Walters’ Manchester operation introduced James to its global office network when Orbital Education needed to source talent in the finance sector, but this time, on the other side of the world.

This challenge involved recruiting a Finance Manager for a new acquisition in Mexico. “We had used multiple sources and different agencies but were struggling to find the right fit.” Despite exploring multiple avenues, the right fit remained elusive. That's when a Robert Walters consultant in the Manchester office introduced James to Robert Walters' finance division in Mexico.

“It is really refreshing to be able to talk to an agency that have appointable candidates across different departments such as IT, Marketing and Finance. And then even better to have a contact in the UK that can introduce us to a number of overseas locations where we also have a presence.”

As the partnership stands, Robert Walters' global reach and diverse coverage of disciplines has led to hires for Orbital Education in both the UK and Mexico across IT, Marketing and Finance. “Robert Walters have delivered for us across three different departments and now in a country where we were finding it hard to make the right appointment, so I would use them again for future hires.”