Leen Geirnaerdt is CFO of the Dutch group USG People, which became a Recruit Holdings subsidiary in 2016. She assumed her role in 2010 and retained it after the acquisition was complete. Prior to acting as the group CFO, Geirnaerdt held various senior management positions within the group, including that of general manager of USG People Belgium’s shared service center transactions and support. She served as corporate controller at Solvus NV until the firm was acquired by USG People.
Mikael Lindmark is senior VP, EMEA, at SAP Fieldglass, responsible for overall operations across Europe. Lindmark played a prominent role in making SAP Fieldglass a major VMS provider in the region. Prior to joining SAP Fieldglass, Lindmark served as VP of EMEA sales at Saba Software. During his tenure at Saba, the company became a leading provider of human capital development and management solutions to the European financial services industry. Prior to Saba, Lindmark held sales and business development positions at Infinity Learning Systems as well as at OpenText and its affiliates.
Recognizing that the traditional college path isn’t working for all workers or even employers, CEO Euan Blair MBE in 2016 founded London-based Multiverse, which offers apprenticeship programmes in skills ranging from business operations to data science and software engineering. Valued at $1.7 billion in June 2022 during its series D funding round, Multiverse has partnered with more than 500 employers to train nearly 9,000 young adults and those looking to reskill. Blair previously had been UK CEO of the staffing and recruiting firm Sarina Russo Group. This year, Blair was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE, for services to education.
Patrick Tiessen is founder and CEO of Nétive VMS, the largest VMS provider based on Salesforce.com in the Benelux. Founded in 2003, Nétive started with two customers and has grown to more than 200 customers in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Finland and the UK. Nétive focuses on creating the best possible cloud software to manage contingent workforces and recruit permanent staff within one single solution. Before Nétive, Tiessen worked as international IT manager at Kelly Services for eight years. In 2010, Nétive acquired Brightbox HR, the first freelancer management system in Europe, and in 2012 it acquired a VMS solution for SAP customers.
Steve Russell is group CEO of Bond International Software, a provider of specialist staffing software for recruitment agencies worldwide. During Russell’s career in software development, he has held a number of senior management positions, including group managing director of Scan Data International plc. Russell formed Bond, which then acquired a controlling interest in Bond Associates Ltd. in 1988. On the acquisition of Bond Associates Inc., he became the group’s chief executive, and following a successful flotation on AIM, became CEO. Over the past decade, Russell has spearheaded a number of acquisitions for the Bond Group including FMP Europe in 2014.
Kevin Barrow is a partner with law firm Osborne Clarke. Since 1990, he has advised staffing companies on all types of legal work, including commercial deals, international joint ventures and M&A.His multi-country team work for more than 100 hirers and suppliers on market-leading UK, EU and international flexible workforce (MSP, RPO and VMS) projects, regulation of digital recruitment and online exchanges, tax planning relating to flexible workforces and worker misclassification and co-employment class actions.Barrow has led a campaign to change the regulatory regime affecting online exchanges, and has rolled out staffing/MSP deals in 40 countries in the last two years.
As president of Kelly International, a business unit of US-based staffing firm Kelly, Dinette Koolhaas designs growth strategies and leads the execution of Kelly’s staffing business across Europe, the UK and Mexico. Her leadership and focus on specialty sectors have significantly impacted financial performance, positioning Kelly International to remain ahead of the evolving demands of workforce solutions. The group’s expansion has included 16 countries, and in 2022 she led Kelly’s exit from the Russian market following the Ukraine invasion. Koolhaas’ current focus is leading a digital transformation that when complete will revolutionise the business model and service delivery for her teams.
Mark Dorman took over as CEO of SThree plc in March 2019. His accomplishments since then include an enhanced leadership team, a successful Capital Markets Day and a record profit performance. In addition, the SThree Foundation in 2019 collaborated with 10 not-forprofit STEM organisations to deliver programmes that engaged 4,365 underserved people in STEM education and careers. Dorman now leads the global STEM recruitment company as it manages through the Covid-19 crisis and continues to take market share, increase operating capabilities and strengthen relationships. SThree counts more than 9,000 clients and 3,000 employees in 16 countries; half-year 2020 revenue was £602.6 million.
A 26-plus year staffing industry veteran, Jilko Andringa is CEO of Brunel International, a €1.2 billion global provider of specialist workforce solutions. Netherlands-based Brunel was ranked by SIA as the 61st-largest staffing firm in the world. Andringa plans to drive a balanced environmental, social and governance agenda, including better diversity in succession planning to foster equity in all levels of the organisation. In 2022, Brunel became carbon neutral. Prior to joining Brunel in 2017, Andriga was president, Northern Europe, of ManpowerGroup; he previously held management positions at Randstad. Andringa is also a member of the supervisory board of EW Facility Services.
Claude Guedj has been chairman and CEO of Groupe CRIT since 2002. He founded the company in 1962 and was first appointed to the board in 1969. Guedj is considered a pioneer and innovator in the French staffing industry. Under his management, Groupe CRIT rose to the top five largest staffing firms in France, and top 20 globally. In 2015, Groupe CRIT largely outpaced the French market and boosted its operations in Spain and the United States.
