All Seasons Group

All Seasons Group

All Seasons Group (ASG) is an engineering-led principal contractor based in Essex, delivering comprehensive mechanical and electrical solutions for commercial, industrial, and public sector clients across the UK.

Founded in 2001, ASG has grown from a residential air conditioning installer into a full-service M&E contractor with over 4,100 clients across 20 years of operation.

They work with major institutions including UCL, The Royal Free Hospital, Nuffield Health, and Boxpark, delivering turnkey projects worth up to £1.4 million.

Led by Colin Owen and Stephen, All Seasons Group has built its entire business on word-of-mouth and a powerful industry network.

With 20% year-on-year growth already embedded in their DNA, they set a clear target: reach £40 million in revenue over the next five years. To get there, they needed to build a marketing function from scratch.

The brief

All Seasons Group had never had a dedicated marketing team. Their one previous attempt ended prematurely when the hire left due to personal circumstances, leaving the business without any marketing ownership for months.

Colin and Steven needed a standalone Marketing Manager who could walk in on day one and take complete ownership, email marketing, LinkedIn, brand building, employer brand, event coordination, and eventually running a founders’ podcast.

Most critically, this person needed to open doors, generating face-to-face meetings with high-value clients such as hotel chains, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare groups.

“We are looking for someone to come into this business and take on head-on marketing.

Someone who wants to own the marketing piece and, please God, as we go on our growth strategy, build a team around them and help develop and bring new clients to the table.“

— Colin Owen, Group Director of All Seasons Group

The challenge

Three months of in-house hiring had produced eight interviews, one near-miss offer, and no hire. The founders were, in their own words, pulling their hair out.

The challenge was not just finding a marketer. It was finding the right kind of marketer for a very specific environment.

The Industry Trap

Engineering and construction marketing is notoriously stale. When a candidate from a construction marketing background came in and showed their portfolio, Colin and Steven immediately knew it was everything they did not want.

They were not looking for someone who would recycle tired industry tropes, they wanted someone who could make All Seasons Group look like a business six or seven years ahead of where the industry currently sits.

The Energy Problem

This was a standalone role with no team, no playbook, and two busy directors who needed someone to grab them, put them in front of a camera, and make things happen. Several candidates had been technically capable but lacked the fire. A passive marketer in this environment would simply not survive.

“Someone who wants to own the marketing piece and, please God, as we go on our growth strategy, build a team around them and help develop and bring new clients to the table.“

— Colin Owen, Group Director of All Seasons Group

The Cultural Fit

All Seasons Group is an entrepreneurial, family-feel business built in Essex. The team is tight-knit, fast-moving, and highly commercial. Finding someone who could match that energy while also having the strategic capability to drive a £40M growth plan was a genuinely rare combination.

The process

All Seasons Group came to Search For Hire after being referred by a mutual contact who had seen the quality of placements first-hand. They were frank about their frustration with generalist recruiters who had been pulling CVs from job boards and sending them across without any real understanding of the business.

Faith Jackson-Garbett led the search. The team deployed an AI-enhanced vetting process, scoring candidates across 13 different marketing subsections.

Every candidate presented to All Seasons Group came with a full scorecard, commentary on strengths and gaps, and a contextualised trophy case showing how their experience mapped directly to ASG’s use case. Colin and Steven could see the complete picture of a candidate before ever stepping into a room.

Critically, the search deliberately looked outside the engineering sector. Rather than targeting candidates with M&E or construction backgrounds, the team focused on marketers with proven track records in modern brand building, proactive lead generation, and the ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced commercial environment. Fresh industry perspective was treated as an asset, not a risk.

The first shortlist was delivered five days after the brief was signed.

“Great support from the word go, these guys clearly vetted who was being sent through to ensure that matched the criteria and also the culture of the business.“

— Colin Owen, Group Director of All Seasons

The outcome

Search For Hire placed Mitchell Courtney as Marketing Manager at All Seasons Group within one month of the brief being signed. Rather than waiting for a formal start date, All Seasons Group brought Mitchell in for a one-week freelance trial.

“While Mitchell checked every box on the job description, it was his distinctive energy that set him apart.

He stood out a mile for his warmth and charisma, whilst his AI-forward mindset and modern marketing edge convinced me he could shake things up for the client.

He is confident, forthright, and yet he remains a collaborator everyone wants to work with. He demonstrated a fantastic combination of independent spirit and mega-approachability.

— Faith Jackson-Garbett, Delivery Consultant for Search for Hire

After seeing his work first-hand, they offered him the full-time role on the spot. He was ready to start straight away.

The placement resulted in 5-star Trustpilot reviews from both the client and the candidate.

“From her initial outreach on LinkedIn through to signing the contract, Faith was a pleasure to work with. Would definitely recommend SEO for Hire to a job seeker!“

— Mitchell Courtney, Marketing Manager at ASG

Why this matters

When a business has grown to £25M on the back of word-of-mouth and a strong network, the instinct is to keep doing what has always worked. But word-of-mouth has a ceiling. At some point, every founder has to build a proactive growth engine if they want to reach the next level.

For All Seasons Group, that meant hiring a marketer who could operate like a commercial asset, not just a content creator. Three months of in-house hiring had failed to find that person, not because the talent did not exist, but because the search was fishing in the wrong pool. Generalist recruiters pulling from job boards surface active candidates. Active candidates in construction marketing tend to carry the same outdated industry mindset All Seasons Group was trying to move away from.

The right hire required going off-market, vetting for culture and energy as rigorously as for technical skill, and presenting only candidates who had been genuinely assessed against ASG’s specific commercial context. A first shortlist in five days and a hire completed within one month is what a specialist process looks like in practice.

“Feedback from the client is that Mitchell absolutely feels like a long term fit for the business and someone who can give them longevity in the role. He is a really lovely guy and has settled into the business after a great trial week and subsequent offer.

They are excited to watch his growth and development as he works to strengthen all areas of their marketing.”

— Faith Jackson-Garbett, Delivery Consultant for Search for Hire

When a standalone role is the first marketing hire in a company’s history, getting it right is not optional. That person will set the direction, the standards, and the culture of an entire function. The cost of getting it wrong is not just a wasted salary. It is a year of lost momentum on a five-year growth plan.