“Rudy did a great job at helping us to recruit two important hires into our Insights team. Both were great cultural fits and met our brief perfectly, and Rudy was very helpful during the process.” – Chief Marketing Officer at Gousto.

Who are Gousto?

Gousto is a well-known meal-kit delivery service that seeks to reignite a passion for home-cooked, nourishing meals. Their product prevents unnecessary food wastage, brings people together and caters to a wide range of tastes and needs. Gousto is one of the fastest-growing brands in the UK, and in 2019, they doubled revenues from £30 million to £60 million.

What did they need?

Having skyrocketed growth-wise, Gousto were looking to “raise the bar” from a consumer understanding perspective by investing in a brand-new Insight team, building this permanent capability from the ground up. Gousto initially sought to invest in two hires: a Head of Insight and an Insight Manager. The people who filled these roles would go on to play a vital role in making the business more customer-centric.

Although they had their own internal recruitment team who were working on filling the roles and had seen a fair number of candidates through the interview process, their endeavours were yet to prove successful. Both roles required high calibre candidates who had a strong understanding of the food and retail industries. They also sought individuals with international experience, as Gousto was keen to jump into new markets beyond the UK.

Whilst both roles were proving a challenge to fill, the Head of Insight was a particularly intricate role. Gousto needed someone who ticked a lot of boxes. They wanted someone with a tech background so that they’d be able to thrive in a rapidly changing and ambiguous environment. They’d need to be agile and adaptable to any challenges or surprises that may rear their head, as things would change and evolve very quickly. The ideal candidate would also need to have leadership skills so that they’d champion the voice of the consumer and function as their mouthpiece at the c-suite level. Gousto’s Head of Insights ideally had to be comfortable with dealing with data hands-on, whilst also having a clear strategic vision, arming them with a gameplan to launch into new global markets.

How did Nicholson Glover help?

Having interviewed 25 candidates without success, Nicholson Glover was referred to Gousto’s Head of Proposition Development. We took on the brief exclusively because we knew that we would need to cover every inch of the market meticulously. It was a big undertaking, one that would take time. Tapping into our network, we conducted a rigorous selection and assessment process to identify and seek out several high potentials. We spoke to a lot of people in order to pick out the candidates with the right skillset, using a targeted search approach to come up with a shortlist. Due to this proactive method, we were able to put forward 30 candidates for interview and ultimately filled both roles in just eight weeks.