- Organisation: Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
- Roles: Chief Executive Officer
- Lead Consultant: Anna Gardet
- Date of Appointment: May 2025
About
Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) is an award-winning charity providing free legal immigration advice, representation and support to people seeking asylum, refugees, children and vulnerable adults across the North West. With more than 35 years of experience and a strong reputation for both high-quality service delivery and policy influence, the organisation was seeking a new Chief Executive to succeed its long-serving retiring leader and take the charity into its next phase of development.
The Brief
Prospectus was engaged on a retained basis to recruit the new Chief Executive Officer. The brief required a values-led leader able to combine strategic oversight with operational effectiveness, support a multidisciplinary team, strengthen external relationships and build the organisation’s profile and influence.
The role also called for someone who could lead organisational review and ensure the charity had the right structures in place to sustain high-quality services while responding to a complex and fast-changing external environment. The successful candidate would also require emotional intelligence to manage the sensitivities surrounding the departure of a long-term and well-respected outgoing CEO.
Our Approach
We delivered a focused search process combining targeted attraction, direct outreach and careful assessment against both skills and mission alignment. Particular emphasis was placed on leadership in complex service settings, organisational development, stakeholder engagement and empathy for the communities GMIAU serves. The campaign saw five candidates progressing to interview stages, with three candidates advancing to interviews with the GMIAU panel and engagement sessions with the senior staff team.
The Outcome
The successful appointee, Neil Frackelton, brought substantial charity-sector leadership experience, including chief executive responsibility within high-demand services supporting vulnerable people, most recently leading Sefton Women’s and Children’s Aid. His background combined strategic leadership, income generation, governance, service development and partnership work, together with a strong track record of growing organisations and strengthening frontline delivery. The appointment gave GMIAU an experienced and credible leader to build on its established reputation and guide the organisation through its next stage of development.
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