Finisterre

Finisterre is a Cornwall headquartered, B Corp certified designer of functional and sustainable products for life in, on, and around the sea. We had the pleasure of partnering with them to place their CMO, Bronwen Foster-Butler. Here’s how we did it. 

For the love of the sea

Based a few hundred metres from the crashing Atlantic, Finisterre was born to inspire a love of the sea, literally meaning “land’s end.” The place where land ends has intrigued people for centuries, fostering both a real and a romantic relationship with the sea; a relationship that runs deep in Finisterre’s narrative.

The story began in 2003 in a flat on top of a surf shop. Since then, the brand has expanded but stayed true to its original design ethos of functionality and sustainability, meeting the needs of hardy British surfers. The business takes a pioneering approach to making better and more sustainable products.

Their Sea7 program is hailed as the UK’s first online ocean activism project, and the Finisterre foundation supports equal ocean access to all. On account of their continuous social and environmental high performance, the business certified as a B Corp in 2021. 

What Finisterre needed 

Finisterre is a D2C business that is predominantly online. The business has nine stores but up to 75% of its revenue comes through digital channels, and through COVID, this online growth continued rapidly. Finisterre approached Founders Keepers as they were in need of a Chief Marketing Officer who could maximise the market opportunity and drive the business forward.  

Finisterre was not only looking for a leader to own the end-to-end customer and growth strategy for the business, but who was also able to combine data and thought leadership with the pacey execution of a high growth D2C business.

Shortly after we went to market with the assignment to find Finisterre’s CMO, we identified an exceptional candidate, Bronwen Foster-Butler, who impressed us with her excellent career trajectory. Her apparel and ecommerce experience was on-point, she had a passion for sport and wellness and she demonstrated a fantastic ability across brand, digital, and content. Timing, however, wasn’t ideal for Bronwen as she wasn't looking to change roles.

We continued our research and candidate engagement, mapping out the market for high growth DTC marketing leaders across Europe and introduced several highly-relevant candidates to Finisterre to meet. Knowing in our gut that we might have already met the perfect match, we were thrilled when Bronwen reengaged, and luckily, she decided to explore the opportunity with Finisterre.

The meeting took place, and the magic happened. From there on, it was only a matter of time before Finisterre extended the CMO offer to Bronwen, who is now settling in nicely in her great new adventure with a fabulous product and team.

“The team at Founders Keepers went above and beyond to find an exceptional leader for us. They were quick to understand our needs and offered good challenge and advice. We had an extremely high bar and feel very happy with the outcome.”

Will Sheane, CEO, Finisterre

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