A critical Growth Director appointment for Bella+Duke during PE-backed expansion

Founded in 2016, Bella+Duke are dedicated to supporting the health and wellbeing of pets, starting with nutrition. A high-growth, digitally native pet nutrition brand with a strong subscription model, they have an ambitious vision to become a category-defining European DTC business. 

With PE investment secured and a new CEO in place, the business was entering a period of accelerated growth. Pivotal to that journey was the appointment of a senior growth leader who could take ownership of customer acquisition, retention and channel strategy, while also building a team as the business scaled. 

3Search Executive were engaged by Bella+Duke to lead the search for a Growth Director - one of the most critical leadership roles within the organisation.  

The brief required someone who could: 

• Own acquisition, retention and lifecycle strategy end-to-end 
• Bring deep direct-to-consumer and subscription experience 
• Lead performance marketing and CRM at scale 
• Operate both strategically and hands-on 
• Build and develop a high-performing growth team

Given the business’ Scotland-based headquarters, the role also required someone who would be comfortable with a hybrid, remote-first operating model. They needed to be capable of attracting top-tier talent without being constrained by geography. 

This was a role with real complexity, balancing performance, leadership and strategic vision. As a result, Bella+Duke needed an executive search partner with proven experience supporting PE-backed, high-growth consumer businesses, and a deep understanding of the DTC growth talent market. 

3Search was appointed based on: 

• Our track record placing senior growth and marketing leaders into scale-up environments 
• Our ability to run a national market search, rather than being limited to London-centric talent 
• A trusted, pre-existing relationship with the CEO 
• Our consultative, advisory approach to shaping leadership hires

We delivered a full executive search, beginning with an in-depth brief and market map. This allowed us to identify and engage senior DTC growth leaders across the UK who met Bella+Duke’s requirements. 

Candidates were assessed rigorously against both technical capability and cultural alignment, with regular feedback loops built into the process to ensure close alignment with the CEO throughout. 

Beyond candidate identification, we acted as a true advisor to the business, advising on: 

• Market availability and candidate expectations 
• Compensation benchmarks for senior growth leaders outside of London 
• The realities of attracting top-tier talent to remote-first roles

The process was run at pace, without compromising on quality and a clear standout candidate emerged early. 

Following the successful appointment of the Growth Director, Bella+Duke has: 

• Delivered consistent growth across core digital channels 
• Expanded into new acquisition routes 
• Exceeded internal growth projections 
• Significantly strengthened performance marketing and CRM capability 

The Growth Director has since gone on to build a high-performing team underneath them, with 3Search continuing to support additional hires as the function scaled. 

We continue to partner closely with Bella+Duke as they grow, supporting senior leadership hires aligned to their long-term ambition of becoming a category-defining European DTC brand.