Supporting the Rebrand of Gatwick Airport

Specialist recruiter VMA Group is used to helping clients with their unique requirements, so it relished the challenge set for them by Gatwick Airport. The airport was being sold by BAA and the communications department was facing a large-scale rebranding exercise encompassing a new identity across the entire Gatwick operation and communication of that new identity to the airport’s various stakeholder groups.

To help develop and implement the project, Andrew McCallum, Director of Communications and External Affairs at Gatwick Airport, needed the support of an experienced brand communications manager. He turned to VMA Group to help him find the right candidate. For such an important position, Andrew wanted someone who had been involved in similar projects with the knowledge and credibility to handle the role and the right chemistry to fit into his team.

During the recruitment process, VMA sought to gain a clear understanding of the brief so that they would place a candidate who was the right fit in terms of both background and style.

Drawing on its knowledge of the sector and an extensive network of suitable candidates, VMA Group was able to identify a number of key players in the sector and put forward a selection of high calibre people.

The candidates were eventually narrowed down to a three-person shortlist, one of whom was Jeremy Fletcher. Jeremy’s career history had industry parallels. He had worked on a similar branding project for Virgin Atlantic, so in addition to experience in corporate identity, he had spent time in the airline sector.

Andrew commented, "I am very pleased that VMA was able to find us Jeremy. He is the ideal candidate; straightforward, experienced and his easygoing style fits into the team very well. He has a desire to challenge, which is very important in our environment."

For Jeremy, once he was in the job, he found the role lived up to the brief: "It is our responsibility to have consistent messaging around branding. This is about questioning the norm and asking how we improve or change things. We’re taking steps to differentiate Gatwick from the competition."

Given the pace and scope of change, VMA was also asked to help find an internal communications specialist for Gatwick to help support staff communications.

"VMA are clearly recruitment experts in the field of communications," Jeremy says from his experience as a candidate. "They had an understanding of both the role and the person needed to fill it. I found them approachable, efficient and personable."