James Caan made his fortune through the global, multi-million pound success of his companies Alexander Mann and Humana International. In 2004, he founded private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw, which has more than 20 recruitment companies in its portfolio. He is best known for being on the hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, and more recently, The Business Class on CNBC. Caan chairs the U.K. government’sStart Up Loans scheme, which provides funding and mentoring to budding entrepreneurs.
Alan Savage established the Orion Group in 1987. As a mechanical technician he worked his way through the ranks of engineering. Following a stint as a sales and marketing consultant, he formed the Orion Group to provide personnel to the booming engineering sector. Savage is a former chairman of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club and a Manchester United supporter. Based in Inverness, Orion Group employs 425 staff across its 44 worldwide offices and manages more than 4,000 contractors annually throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Andreas Dinges became the regional head of the Adecco Group’s Germany and Austriadivision in 2009 and is an executivecommittee member. He joined Adecco in 2006 as CEO of DIS DeutscherIndustrie Service AG. From 2002 to 2006, he was the spokesman of the executiveboard of 3M ESPE AG. He started his career at 3M Company in 1988. Dinges isa commercial judge at the district court in Dusseldorf, Germany. He is a member of the board of the Bundesarbeitgeberverband der Personaldienstleister (BAP), Germany’s national staffing association.
Albert Ellis is CEO of the Harvey Nash Group, which had revenue of nearly £700 million in its most recent fiscal year. Ellis was originally appointed to the board in 2000 as chief financial officer and then CEO in 2005. In 1998 he joined Harvey Nash from Hays plc. Prior to that he worked in the accounting and auditing profession after qualifying as a chartered accountant. He is also on the board of Asia House and is an advisor at London City University’s Cass Business School masters in information leadership course.
Stefano Colli-Lanzi is chief executive officer of Gi Group, an Italian staffing firm that operates directly or through partnerships in more than 30 countries worldwide. He has extensive professional and managerial experience and established Gi Group in 1998. The company is ranked the eighth-largest staffing firm in Europe by Staffing Industry Analysts. Colli-Lanzi is also vice chairman of Assolavoro and professor of business economics at the Milan Catholic University.
Helga Schwitzer is the executive board member of the IG Metall Union and is responsible for collective bargaining. Schwitzer successfully negotiated a new collective agreement for the metal and electrical industry and agreed to a 15 percent wage increase for agency workers in the sector, an agreement that led to collective bargaining agreements in other industries. From 1985 to 2007, Schwitzer was the union secretary of IG Metall district headquarters of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. She is also an honorary judge at the Federal Labour court in Erfurt and is a member of the SPD.
Volker Enkerts is president of BAP, Germany’s national staffing association. Since 1989, he has owned and operated Hamburg-based FLEX-TIME GmbH. In 1992, Enkerts became a board member of the BZA — BundesverbandZeitarbeit Personal Dienstleistungen (German Association of Private Employment) — and then president in 2004. In 2010/2011, BZA merged with AMP — Arbeitgeberverband Mittelständischer Personaldienstleister (Employers’ Association of Medium-Sized Personnel Services) — to form BAP. He was elected as president after the merger. Enkerts has also been a board member of the BDA, Bundesvereinigung der DeutschenArbeitgeberverbände (Confederation of German Employers’ Associations), since 1998.
Steve Weston is Hays’ chief information officer and global head of Hays Talent Solutions. He joined Hays in 2008 as CIO. Prior to Hays, he was U.K. managing director for Xansa, a publicly quoted outsourcing and technology firm. He has also worked in the manufacturing and financial services sectors.
Margriet Spijker is general manager of Timing, the seventh-largest staffing company in the Netherlands and part of the ADG Group. She joined Timing in 1988 as a consultant, followed by various management positions, up to deputy manager, a role in which she worked alongside Annemarie Laan van Dongen, who retired as general manager in January 2012 after 18 years.
Henrik Höjsgaard has been CEO and president at Proffice AB since January 2014. Prior to joining Scandinavia’s third-largest staffing firm, he had been CEO of Postnord Logistics since 2007. Höjsgaard has a long international career, including as a ship broker in Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Hong Kong. He has also been CEO of Keolis Nordic AB and has had various managerial roles in Sweden and Denmark, including as CEO of TNT International Express AB.
