DFI had relied on a third-party operating partner to manage its £300m portfolio. As the business scaled, adding new industrial strategies and potentially raising a further £100–200m for a new MLI vehicle, outsourcing was no longer viable. The business needed to vertically integrate to retain control, support an active acquisition pipeline, deliver institutional-grade reporting, and free up senior leadership from day-to-day responsibilities. The right hire needed to own the function end-to-end from day one, with no handholding.

We opened with a performance briefing to align all stakeholders on what success looked like, then mapped the market for candidates suited to a high-autonomy role within a lean, entrepreneurial team. The search focused on industrial/logistics asset management experience (ideally including MLI), proven capex and lease event management, sophistication with institutional capital partners, and a no-ego, self-starter mindset. Target markets included REITs, investment managers, and private equity operating partners. 

Rather than producing a standard job description laden with demands, we built a bespoke branded microsite in DFI's own identity. It featured a direct interview with the leadership team covering the opportunity, its place within the business, and the vision for the platform. We layered in recent news, team profiles, and context drawn from our briefing meeting to paint a full picture of why this was a compelling move.

The effect was twofold. Candidates could see this was a real role at a business that thinks carefully about how it presents itself and takes hiring seriously. And for passive candidates, not actively looking, it meant they weren't solely relying on our word for it. Hearing it articulated by the principals themselves, in a structured and visually compelling format, is a materially more powerful conversion tool than a recruiter pitch alone.

From there, we applied additional screening through a structured homework exercise to test commitment, competency, and quality before jointly deciding who to shortlist before a 4 stage interview process followed.