Kelpi is a material innovation company passionate about tackling plastic pollution and the issues of climate change. Kelpi produces a bioplastic coating made with seaweed which offers an alternative to fossil fuel plastics. Working with some of the world’s biggest brands to eliminate single-use plastic packaging, Kelpi are developing the next generation of sustainable, recyclable materials.
Being a business in a rapidly growing industry, Kelpi had success in past hiring, but when they needed consulting on two new key roles, ISL Talent stepped in.
Kelpi’s CEO, Neil, met ISL’s CEO, Alan, at a CEO Collective meeting, where he saw firsthand the strength of ISL Talent’s network and position within the local community, as well as our unique approach to recruitment.
With Kelpi being close to receiving £2.4million in funding from SCVC, Green Angel Ventures and others, and knowing they had allocated part of it towards scaling the team and making crucial hires, it was the ideal time for Kelpi to engage with ISL and explore how we could help them on the next phase of growth.
Neil was impressed with ISL’s positioning and approach to helping other startups, so chose to work with us on our Base_down product which resulted in the successful hire of a People and Operations Manager.
The Results
As well as successfully making a key hire, Kelpi benefited from:
Trusted advisors – Alan and Emily went to Kelpi’s offices consulting Neil to help form the requirements for a very specific role. They sat with him and worked through the key traits and skills he wanted for the position and formed the job title as People and Operations Manager.
Branded advertising – When it came to hiring for the role, we put out branded job advertisements to boost Kelpi’s brand awareness and help appeal to a talent pool specific to Kelpi’s industry. This helped appeal directly to candidates with a passion for working in the climate tech space – which was something very important to Kelpi in their search for the ideal candidate. It also meant that when speaking to candidates, Emily was able to sell Kelpi’s story, which ultimately resulted in the successful candidate choosing Kelpi above other businesses.
Headhunting – Kelpi were searching for a candidate with not only HR expertise and people management skills, but also someone who had experience taking a business through B Corp accreditation. With these specific skills and experiences in mind and after conducting a series of market research, Emily took to the market to headhunt a pool of individuals who matched these requirements. Emily then carried out the initial candidate assessments to ensure only the highest standard of talent was being presented to Kelpi.
Additional support – As well as hiring for the People and Operations Manager role, we helped Kelpi carry out research to assist in the hire of a CCO. We conducted comprehensive market research, covering candidate backgrounds, previous companies, compensation expectations, and more. This paid research helped Kelpi successfully hire their CCO.
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