Top headhunters axed as mandarin gets promoted

A GOVERNMENT department employed a leading team of headhunters to find a new permanent secretary, only to promote an internal candidate.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) enlisted Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA), an executive recruitment company, to carry out the task.

However, it decided to call off the deal and promoted Sarah Munby, already a director-general in the department.

A government source said “only a small fee was paid” of the £60,000plus expected to be spent on finding a replacement for Alex Chisholm, who became Civil Service chief operating officer and Cabinet Office permanent secretary earlier this year.

“A decision was made to pursue an internal competition,” the source said, adding that the amount paid was “considerably less” than the sum originally quoted.

Ms Munby, who is 38, is thought to be the youngest permanent secretary in Whitehall. She worked at Mckinsey, the consultancy firm, for 15 years, where she was a partner.

It is not unusual for government departments to outsource recruitment.

Last summer, RRA, which uses a combination of competency interviews, leadership questionnaires, culture assessment, references and “deep market knowledge” won a contract worth £163,000 to act as a recruitment agency for the Ministry of Defence.

In a statement, BEIS said that Ms Munby had “worked with some of the UK’S largest companies to change their strategic direction, and led much of Mckinsey’s work on productivity across the UK economy”.

Sir Mark Sedwill, the outgoing Cabinet Secretary, said Ms Munby had been “instrumental in supporting businesses to help them prepare for exiting the EU and in responding to Covid-19”.

Alok Sharma, the Business Secretary, said the appointment of Ms Munby was “very good news for the department and for this government”.

“Sarah is an outstanding public servant who has already made a significant contribution to the work of the department,” he added.