Russell Simpson Case Study

1. CLIENT INFORMATION

Client Name: Russell Simpson

Industry: Prime Central London Real Estate

Location: Chelsea

Contact Person: Viktorija Rinkeviciute

Position: Head of Marketing

2. BACKGROUND

Company Overview:

Russell Simpson is a family-run business who work with an outstanding selection of luxury real estate across West London and are experts in some of the capital’s most sought-after neighbourhoods.

3. CHALLENGES

Initial Challenges:

Finding marketing talent direct with the right skills and cultural fit at the time of (re)building the Russell Simpson brand was proving to be a challenge and time consuming, which is why Viktorija sought out Stopgap following a recommendation.

4. OBJECTIVES

Key Objectives:

• Building out a marketing team to support Viktorija’s efforts in taking a traditional English business into the digital age, with specific skillsets required for social media, photography and videography. Finding candidates to align with the family’s visual design aesthetic and editorial copy style was key.

• Ensuring a strong and happy team based on advice around role progression pathways and salary benchmarking.

5. STOPGAP’S SOLUTION

Our Approach:

• Getting to know Viktorija, understanding her needs, style and approach, and what is important to the business to determine best fit in terms of skillset and culture. Viktorija was key to our success by entering into a true partnership with us, built on trust, transparency, clear communication and responsiveness. Guided by a comprehensive brief, over the course of 2 years, we have placed 3 permanent roles: (Social Media Executive, Photo and Video Content Creator and Editor)

• We also provided guidance around the recruitment process, salary benchmarking for the team based on market insights (our own salary guide and key industry barometers) to ensure her entire team were being fairly compensated at her request, and advice around individual career progression

• Not only did Stopgap provide a recruitment solution, we also provided expertise and insight to help Viktorija build and maintain a strong and happy team

6. RESULTS

Outcomes & Impact:

• Stopgap have helped us hire 3 new team members – a Social Media Executive and 2 Photographers & Videographers, which helped form a robust marketing team, focusing on individual property marketing and brand marketing.

• For us, the cultural fit and the getting brand values and the shared aesthetic was key, and Stopgap candidates have delivered on both. All of them also added other skills we initially haven’t thought of – strategic thinking, content creator management, email marketing, YouTube management and podcast creation, which led to all candidates completing their probation period early, as well as one promotion within the first year at the company.

7. FUTURE PLANS (Viktorija to complete)

Looking Ahead:

Caroline and John have been my silent partners in recruitment and staff retention (mostly for career progression and salary retention), and I will continue to lean on for the same as and when the need arises.