An Academy at the heart of London

Education and youth opportunity charity Future, Sponsor of the Pimlico Academy

The background: Housed in one of the most distinctive buildings in the capital, Pimlico School was placed in special measures in 2006. The school was already in the midst of becoming an Academy, with the aid of sponsor, Future – a not for profit organisation working in education.

The challenge: Our challenge was to ensure that the Academy had the right leadership team in place to make this bold new venture a success and to transform the school by building on the great strength and diversity of its community.

Our initial task was to recruit a team of people who could create an outstanding academy that is comprehensive, non-denominational in ethos, fully inclusive and which embraces its diverse community. To do this we needed to secure the pivotal role of Principal of the Pimlico Academy, and then to ensure this was supported with three key Vice Principals and three Assistant Vice-Principals.

The solution: We devised an effective marketing and recruitment campaign, coupled with a robust search and selection process which took the roles to a wide audience and raised awareness of the proposed Academy and its bold vision for the future. We spent time with candidates to explain about the new Academy, and plans for the future.

The result: The Academy received a strong field of candidates for posts at all levels, and all seven posts were recruited first time.