Candidate packs are produced with the institution, not about it — they tell the story the institution wants told. Blairgowrie produces the independent strategic intelligence your shortlisted candidates need and no institution can provide itself.
Your strongest candidates will research independently. Your weaker ones will accept the pack at face value. Neither group is well served — because the pack was written with the institution's cooperation, not about it. The strategic context it presents is the one the institution wants told, not the one the data shows.
A 15-slide PowerPoint delivered in Blairgowrie branding — independently produced, clearly attributed, designed to sit alongside your candidate pack. Built on the same analytical framework as the full Blairgowrie institutional intelligence suite. Validity-dated to 6 months from issue, so it stays current and cannot be recycled across appointment cycles.
What's inside
Every brief covers the same six dimensions using publicly available data — HESA, UCAS, OfS, and the National Student Survey — analysed using the same statistical framework as the full Blairgowrie institutional intelligence suite.
Institutional Context — leadership team, strategic moment, current priorities and campus investment.
Demand & Enrolment — student volume, tariff positioning, mode split, partner provision.
Student Experience & Outcomes — NSS scores, graduate employment trajectory, TEF position.
OfS B3 Regulatory Risk — completion, continuation, progression with confidence intervals and peer comparison.
Financial Health — net liquidity, net assets, operating cash generation against sector thresholds.
Blairgowrie Take — a frank cross-dimension strategic read. This is the section institution-authored packs cannot provide.
Why it carries your firm's name
The brief carries Blairgowrie branding throughout. It is not white-labelled, and that is a deliberate feature.
A search firm that commissions independent intelligence signals something to every shortlisted candidate: that they take the brief seriously enough to go outside their own walls for analytical rigour. That signal is visible on every page of the document.
The Blairgowrie name on the cover also makes attribution explicit — candidates know this analysis was commissioned for them, not produced by the institution being assessed.
"The search firm commissioning this brief has chosen to supplement their candidate pack with independent strategic intelligence." — stated on every brief we produce.
Institution name, role level, and your preferred delivery date. That is all we need. No data transfer, no lengthy briefing calls.
We pull HESA, UCAS, OfS, and NSS data and apply our analytical framework. Turnaround is 5 working days from commission.
A branded 15-slide PowerPoint, ready to add to your candidate pack. The brief is dated and carries a 6-month validity window.
They have an honest analytical baseline before day one. The incoming leader already holds a Blairgowrie product — and knows who produced it.
The brief is available for any senior role at a UK HEI. The analytical emphasis shifts by role — a VC candidate needs the full cross-dimension picture; a Director of Student Recruitment needs the demand and conversion focus. Every brief is calibrated accordingly.
Executive Leadership
The full picture before the first planning cycle.
Seven-dimension diagnostic. Cross-dimension connections. The analytical foundation for a new VC's first ninety days, before the institution's own reporting cycles catch up.
Academic Leadership
Demand trajectory and student value, in detail.
Five-year recruitment funnel, yield gap analysis, NSS benchmarking, and student outcomes trajectory — the data picture for the portfolio they are inheriting.
Operations
The break-even number and what it means operationally.
Financial health indicators, break-even enrolment sensitivity, and the B3 regulatory position — the analytical context for transformation decisions that need to survive governor scrutiny.
Commercial & Marketing
Where the conversion funnel is leaking and why.
Full UCAS funnel analysis, yield gap by subject and domicile, NSS themes visible to offer-holders on Discover Uni, and the demand trajectory the new CMO inherits.
Recruitment
Know the yield problem before the first UCAS cycle.
Conversion rate by subject and domicile, sector-share movement, peer-benchmarked funnel performance, and what the data says about which parts of the funnel are structurally weak.
Governance
Regulatory exposure and governance context.
OfS B3 position with confidence intervals, regulatory history, governance structure, and the compliance context an incoming Registrar needs before their first Board meeting.
A senior HE executive appointment typically carries a search fee of £25,000 to £65,000 at Vice-Chancellor level, and £15,000 to £35,000 for PVC, COO, and Director roles. The Candidate Intelligence Brief is priced at £1,500 — a figure that sits cleanly in disbursements without a conversation.
The value it adds — to the candidate experience and to your firm's positioning — is not a close call. The calculus on the right makes it plain.
For firms running 10 or more senior searches a year, a standing arrangement removes the per-commission decision and ensures consistent candidate experience across every brief. Ask us about standing terms.
Illustrative cost-benefit
Standing arrangement: 10+ briefs per year. Volume pricing available on request. Contact [email protected].
We have produced a complete Candidate Intelligence Brief for the University of Gloucestershire as an exemplar. Download it below — no form, no email required. It is exactly what you would receive for any appointment you commission.
The exemplar shows the validity dating, confidentiality notices, and Blairgowrie strategic take that appear on every brief — including the section the institution cannot write about itself.
University of Gloucestershire · 15 slides · PDF · Exemplar document
Exemplar brief contents
One price regardless of role level or institution size. Sits cleanly as a disbursement line item — invoiced on delivery, 14-day terms. No per-engagement negotiation.
per senior appointment, ex-VAT
A complete 15-slide Candidate Intelligence Brief covering all six analytical dimensions. Delivered within 5 working days of commission. Validity-dated to 6 months from issue.
15-slide PowerPoint in Blairgowrie branding
Six analytical dimensions from public data
OfS B3 risk position with peer comparison
Financial health indicators and context
Blairgowrie strategic take (frank, independent)
6-month validity window with expiry notice
Delivery within 5 working days
10+ briefs per year, bespoke terms
For firms running 10 or more senior HE searches a year. A standing arrangement removes the per-commission decision and ensures consistent candidate experience across every brief.
All briefs use publicly available data only — HESA, UCAS, OfS, and NSS. No institutional data required or requested from the search firm or the institution. VAT added where applicable. Payment by invoice within 14 days of delivery.
Blairgowrie HE Advisory is founded by Dr David O'Connor, a former Pro Vice-Chancellor at BIMM University and the principal architect of 300%+ enrolment growth, 500%+ revenue growth, and two private equity exits at 4x returns across a decade of institutional leadership.
The Blairgowrie Candidate Intelligence Brief is not produced by analysts working from spreadsheets. It is produced by someone who has sat on both sides of a senior HE appointment — and understands what an incoming leader actually needs to know before their first day.
The analytical foundation is the Blairgowrie Student Value Model — a proprietary statistical instrument developed through doctoral research at the University of Bath, the first validated instrument of its kind calibrated specifically for UK higher education. The same rigour underpins every brief.
The framing is peer-to-peer. The analysis is data-grounded. The strategic take is honest in a way that institution-authored documents cannot be.
"I have been sent candidate packs. I know what they contain. The strategic analysis is thin because it was produced with the institution, not about it. The Blairgowrie brief exists because I would have wanted it when I was the candidate."
Dr David O'Connor · Founder, Blairgowrie HE Advisory · Former PVC, BIMM UniversityThe Blairgowrie intelligence suite covers six institutional dimensions — synthesised in the Institutional Health Intelligence Report — and is used by senior HE leaders at UK universities. The Candidate Intelligence Brief extends the same framework to the executive search market: the same rigour, at a format and price point designed for the candidate moment.
Every brief is reviewed and signed off by David O'Connor personally before delivery. Not delegated. Not automated. The strategic take in Section 06 represents a genuine analytical judgement, not a templated summary.
The institution and the role you are recruiting for.
We will confirm turnaround and invoice on delivery.
Turnaround: 5 working daysPayment: Invoice on delivery, 14-day termsPrice: £1,500 ex-VAT
Commission a brief by emailOpens your email client with the subject and key details pre-filled. Just add your name and hit send.