Venari Partners: Our vision for the future

Since his arrival in January, Managing Director Felix Meller has been thinking about the direction in which he would like to take the company. Read on for his thoughts on business values, areas for growth, and other new developments on the horizon.  

Last month, I shared my thoughts and reflections on my first 100 days as Venari Partners’ Managing Director. I’m glad to say that the warm welcome I received from my colleagues made sure I settled in quickly! As I’ve had a chance to catch my breath after an incredibly busy few months, I thought now would be a good opportunity to share a few details on what the future holds for the company and how we are planning for it. 

Venari Partners has always been an extremely ambitious organisation, punching far above its weight as an executive search firm providing unparalleled customer experiences and constantly striving to improve on our own high standards. Saying that, my joining represented a new direction for the business: something that I wanted to elaborate on further after I’d had a chance to get to know my new co-workers in earnest.  

New developments will be rooted in our company identity 

What can you expect from us as we continue this exciting new chapter? Well, our four core values as a business all start with the letter ‘P’: people, professional, positive, and progressive. Any decision we make about our direction draws on how we can best serve and be true to these concepts.  

For instance, so much of what we want to achieve is and always will be rooted in our talent. Empowering our existing team is key to unlocking future accomplishments. We always strive to ensure that staff who have laid the groundwork feel supported as they see their hard work building networks in new markets bear fruit. We believe in giving stellar performance the acknowledgment it merits, with regular monthly incentives for employees, quarterly high achievers’ events, and a range of other schemes to make sure our people know they feel valued. All of these very much remain in place, with new and exciting incentives soon to be announced too. Our aim is always to be – quite literally – a rewarding place to work.  

Expanding our horizons 

Venari Partners is proud to serve businesses all over the world from our London headquarters. We believe in visiting clients in person wherever possible and whenever needed – but this year has brought exciting new developments in expanding our international presence. With the new hires of Emily Matthews, based in Madrid, and Nelamar Piñeiro, in Miami, we have begun the process of looking at other markets where we can add to our headcount (principally, in Europe and the Americas). Rather than these additions being individual outposts, they have further boosted our strong emphasis on collaboration. They also represent investment and growth in areas we already inhabit, which will certainly be a continuing theme for the company going forward.  

For instance, I view boosting our capacities across interim, finance, and energy transition talent solutions to be of singular importance. We have an established customer base in these sectors, but we are seeking to add yet more value and services to our existing clients with additional investment in these cross-verticals. In other words, we want to further leverage where we have already had significant professional success.  

Building on our research capacities  

In my previous post, I wrote about our research team being the ‘intelligence arm’ of the business. At Venari Partners, research is not merely a function that supports the sales team: it is an integral part of the services we offer. We do not prioritise consultant careers over research, instead recognising that different personalities can thrive in both functions. For me, research means so much more than mapping and sourcing. Our research function offers data-driven insights, proactively identifies talent ahead of time, and supports sales consultants in reaching out to clients. Indeed, it is our aim to be as known for our offerings in this area as we are for placements. That way, we can continue to provide our customers with proactive support and the best insights and market intelligence around.  

Always innovating  

I am interested in the idea of ‘known unknowns’ – that is, constantly seeking to innovate and develop our product offerings. This means regularly asking ourselves: what do clients see from us in terms of outputs? What does ‘exceptional’ look like today – and, more importantly, what will that look like tomorrow? In a week, a month, a year? I never want us to get comfortable, instead to constantly evolve and innovate (while maintaining an impeccable level of consistency, naturally). That standard of excellence is something we push ourselves to achieve. Doing so over and over again is key to our mission to deliver better executive search experiences.  

Within the next year, you can expect a brand refresh from us, adding further depth to our already distinctive identity. Stay tuned for developments there. In the meantime, I am keen to stay as close as possible to emerging sectors, especially where there is adjacency to the markets in which we already excel. We’ve seen AI grow exponentially over the past three years – but what’s next? Quantum? Space? Defence? Hiring someone with a deep passion for the next big thing would be a very exciting move and in keeping with our desire to push our boundaries and continue progressing. Something else more tangible and immediate that I’m really looking forward to is the Venari Partners Challenge to the Jungle. It’s such a wonderful initiative and I can’t wait to see how the first campaign of my tenure as MD pans out. Remember, nominations are still open, so get yours in while you can.  

Looking after our people  

Since I joined in January, we’ve had eight new starters: a number that will have grown by the end of the year. This is testament to the company’s ambition and reach. My biggest single aim is for us to have multiple people transacting with the same organisation at a given time, providing the same stellar client experience across various functions and verticals. It is truly inspiring to see the range of talent and specialisations that we have to hand here. That supports my most significant vision for Venari Partners: to provide the platform and encouragement our people need to be the best at what they do, and remove whatever barriers – whether it’s imposter syndrome, a lack of confidence, or absolutely anything else that might be holding them back. The sky really is the limit when your talent is positively supported.  

If you are interested in hearing more about how Venari Partners' vision could help your organisation’s hiring needs, please reach out – I’d love to hear from you.