Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Councils operate together within a Marmot joint council arrangement, working across organisational boundaries.
Within this context, the organisation was undertaking a review of its all-age commissioning approach, alongside wider organisational priorities and long-term sustainability.
This required support beyond a traditional recruitment model, particularly given the complexity of operating across two councils.
As Stephen explains:
“We needed to strengthen leadership capacity at pace while also undertaking a complex review of our all-age commissioning approach, ensuring alignment with our wider organisational priorities and long-term sustainability.“
Given the nature of the challenge, combining leadership capacity with a complex commissioning review, a traditional recruitment approach alone was unlikely to provide the pace or flexibility required.
Instead, Moxie People recommended a Statement of Work (SoW) consultancy model, enabling the councils to access:
This approach avoided defaulting to a permanent or interim appointment before the full scope of the challenge was understood.
Through this approach, Moxie deployed a lead consultant carefully matched to the needs of the project, bringing relevant experience within Children’s Services and Education.
As Stephen reflects:
“Moxie brought a highly engaged, flexible approach, combining strong market insight with a genuine understanding of our organisational context.”
“The ability to move seamlessly between retained search and statement-of-work consultancy was particularly valuable.”
For the councils, the priority was not simply filling a role, but finding a partner who could understand the context, operate at pace, and contribute beyond a transactional service.
“We were looking for a partner who understood our story, the Welsh public sector context, could operate at pace, and bring both recruitment expertise and strategic insight rather than just a transactional service.”
This was particularly important given the alternatives typically available, whether permanent recruitment, interim appointments, or internal secondments, which may not have provided the flexibility or combined capacity and insight required at this stage.
Moxie’s approach focused on first understanding the full scope of the challenge, before recommending a solution that combined:
While the work is ongoing, early impact has focused on bringing pace and clarity to a complex area.
Within a short period, Moxie’s lead consultant was able to engage key stakeholders and move the work forward quickly, helping to establish early progress across the commissioning review.
Initial work has:
The approach has also supported strong engagement across the service, helping to create a constructive environment for the work.
As Stephen highlights:
“Moxie’s lead consultant has made a very positive early impact, bringing greater pace and clarity to decision-making and widening the strategic perspective on all-age commissioning.”
“The work is ongoing, but we are already seeing stronger momentum and more coherent direction in what is a complex area.”
“I would certainly be happy to recommend James and Moxie People. They have been a trusted and effective partner in helping us address both leadership capacity and system-level challenge.”
“This is the start of a new partnership, and it’s one we’re excited about.”
Stephen Vickers
Chief Executive, Torfaen & Blaenau Gwent Councils
