Small Charity Week 2024: Yateley Industries

Small Charity Week 2024: Yateley Industries

By Bill Yuksel|24 June 2024

We spoke to Sheldon McMullan, Chief Executive of Yateley Industries, for Small Charity Week 2024 to learn how this small charity has turned around after decades of financial mismanagement.

How do you attract and retain staff in a competitive market? Are there different development opportunities that working in a small charity can provide?

I have asked myself that question for over 20 years. The answer, as anyone who works in this sector knows, is that it isn’t about the money!!

I have found that people resonate with a cause that gives them purpose and meaning. Yateley Industries is a magical place and after just three visits, I was under its spell and saw its enormous potential. Just being here and interacting with the team motivates me to make our vision a reality. When candidates walk through the door and we explain our mission, they want to be a part of it. Some of our recent staff have even sought us out on reputation alone!

Small charities give you growth and stretch opportunities like no other because you need to gain an understanding of so many facets of the organisation in order to achieve your personal goals, so it naturally brings about development and growth. A courageous leader has to give people the space and tools to deliver their part and contribute to the wider goal. Strong teams value autonomy but expect to be held accountable.

Category:Not for Profit

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Bill Yuksel

Written by

Bill Yuksel

Head of SME Charities

Bill Yuksel has a passion for creating environments where people can create systemic change and a real commitment to delivering inclusive, empowering and robust recruitment.

Since joining Peridot in 2016, Bill has led hundreds of chief executive, senior leadership and board appointments for charities, including appointing over 60+ chief executives across England, Wales and Scotland.

Bill also has experience leading transformation projects as a Trustee of two charities, where he secured better financial positions, led governance reform and recruited new CEOs and Trustees. Bill was also a member of the Transformation Board at the University of Suffolk Students' Union.

As a former two-year students' union Sabbatical Officer, Bill knows that many talented young people find it hard to find meaningful employment after their term of office and has offered pro-bono career workshops to empower young people and help them in their job hunts.

Bill is proud of his strong track record of recruiting women, people of colour, LGBTQ+, and disabled people into leadership positions.

Outside of work, Bill is a kinship foster carer to his young nephew. He is also a Trustee at Mindera UK Foundation, a charity providing education, funding, mentorship, and opportunities for underrepresented and underprivileged young people. He works as an Interim Co-Chair of the Small Charity Advisory Panel, supported by NCVO, and he is a Panel Member for Board Behaviours and Dynamics Working Group for the Charity Commission.