Landmark

Overview

Founded in 2000, Landmark is a flexible workspace provider, which creates engaging environments in thriving, well-connected locations. Serving 11,500+ clients, across seven UK cities, and 41 locations, the business provides private offices, virtual offices, meeting rooms and co-working. 

In December 2022, Landmark’s parent company, OCS Group Limited, was acquired by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, the private investment firm. This led to two new management hires at Landmark, both placed successfully by DRAX, leveraging insights from PACE, our behavioural assessment tool. 

Immediately seeing the wider potential for PACE within the business, Landmark CEO, Ed Cowell, subsequently enlisted DRAX to conduct a comprehensive leadership team evaluation and half-day workshop to discuss the outputs within the context of team and business challenges. The session has been instrumental in forging stronger relationships and positioning the leadership team to deliver on the value creation plan going forward. 

From Leadership Change to Team Development 

Following the acquisition of its parent company in 2022, Landmark initially worked with DRAX to select a new CFO, finding PACE to be invaluable in ascertaining team and business fit for the role. The business used PACE again to aid in selecting an HR Director, and Cowell soon realised the tool could bring even greater value to the business. 

“There are plenty of tools and psychometric tests out there and I felt that PACE gave us far greater insight into the individuals,” says Cowell. “It’s far less generic than a lot of its competitors. We were able to use the results to focus and frame our interview questions, eliciting more insightful responses that ultimately enabled us to choose the right person, first for the CFO and then for the HRD. The more I used the tool, the more I realised its utility in helping to develop the team as well.”

As the current leadership team had only been together for 12 months during a period of transition for the company, Cowell felt that it would be beneficial for the entire group to complete PACE, to understand the dynamics of the team and optimise how they work together. 

A ‘Different Lens’ on Team Dynamics 

Each member of the SLT completed a PACE assessment and the team then took part in a detailed workshop, conducted by DRAX, held for a full afternoon at one of Landmark's key sites. 

“We’d been through the initial settling phase that always happens with a new team and had started to perceive some challenges emerging in terms of behaviours, ways of working and communication. We wanted an opportunity to press the reset button and understand the reasons behind the team dynamics. We felt it was the ideal moment to spend some dedicated time talking about ourselves and how we can work better together,” explains Cowell. 

The team's behavioural map identified areas of potential friction or tension, along with recommended interventions to optimise their collective attributes. The session was dynamic, featuring moments of personal reflection, realisation, and laughter.

“When we reviewed our PACE results, it became obvious why certain team members behave a certain way and how that impacts relationships and collaboration. I have been a CEO for nine years, so I know a lot of my weaknesses, but PACE gave me a slightly different lens on the areas to work on and develop. The DRAX team’s ability to relate the insights to the private equity and business world was invaluable.”

A shared language 

Following the workshop, the leadership team were provided actions based on the insights and feedback, and areas to work on going forward. Cowell believes that the additional structure and shared vernacular provided by PACE will be invaluable for building stronger relationships in the day-to-day. 

Ed concluded, “There is now a real reason to do the activities, such as the one-to-ones, to strengthen relationships and ways of working. It gives you a framework for having challenging conversations, which is critical to working together effectively going forward”.

The team is planning to reconvene for another session in eight weeks to ensure that the learning process continues.