Helping a law firm maintain presence during a recruitment gap

The need
Burges Salmon is a well-respected UK law firm, with 550+ lawyers, many of which are recognised as leaders in their field. They approached us due to a gap in their marketing team, where they needed an experienced person to step in and help at short notice. That support gave the firm time to recruit for the longer-term role, without losing capacity and the ability to deliver campaigns in the meantime.

What we did
In discussion with their talent and contracts teams, we agreed the interim role requirements, hours and duration needed. We identified the best person for the role from our network, based on skills and cultural fit, and put them forward for interview with the line manager.

Having agreed that Helen Cox was best placed to help, she began working with the team on a part-time basis (and with regular contact, meetings and clear communications, all the work was completed remotely). She also fed back to line managers and department heads regularly. Helen worked on several major campaigns during her time assisting the firm (originally planned for six months, but then extended to nine):

• Campaigns – Helen played a crucial role in delivering and reporting on the firm’s tier-one strategic campaigns, working closely with the Business Development (BD) teams, partners, and other stakeholders. Her contributions included developing thought leadership report content, also for social media, on the firm’s website, and for email communications.
• 2024/25 Campaign Planning – Helen led the planning process for the firm’s major campaigns for 2024/25. She facilitated meetings with the Business Development Managers (BDMs) to gather insights and ideas, which she then organised into comprehensive campaign proposals. These proposals were presented to the BDs, partners, and the Chief Markets Officer, outlining a framework for ‘go to market’ strategies.
• Introducing New Ideas – Helen introduced innovative approaches to email drip and demand generation campaigns. She played a pivotal role in structuring, testing and optimising email campaigns, while also extending the reach and longevity of campaign impact through effective repurposing of thought leadership content.

The outcome
The Head of Marketing (as Helen’s line manager) was very pleased to have someone experienced come in and deliver what was needed. The feedback was that the team enjoyed working with her, as she was sensible and considered, taking time to understand their processes. The benefit of an external, experienced person in the role was that Helen was then able to share ideas on those processes, making new suggestions and gently challenging some of the existing situations. She was also able to bring her wider market insights and knowledge to the team in proposing campaign ideas and sharing different solutions.

“Helen was a pleasure to work with and I very much valued her input. She was reliable and efficient, but also creative with her ideas and not afraid to be direct in sharing her experience and ideas. Helen was quickly up to speed and slotted well into the team, delivering quality outputs that set us up well for handover to the new recruit.”

Julian Wenban, Head of Marketing