Simon Wassall has been with Harvey Nash for more than 15 years and is responsible for the U.K. and European IT recruitment operations. Prior to joining Harvey Nash, Wassall opened several new operations for Austin Benn, which led to his board appointment to a newly acquired advertising and marketing company.
James Kelly joined technology recruitment specialist Lorien Resourcing as CEO in August 2008. He has successfully guided Lorien through a period of rapid growth during which revenues increased from £147 million to £296 million and both contract and permanent placement numbers have doubled. With Lorien, Kelly has sold and delivered large-scale managed service and recruitment process outsource solutions for the likes of Fujitsu, Monitise, Phoenix and KPMG. Lorien currently has more than 200 staff members.
Carl Camden is president and CEO of Kelly Services, the fifth-largest staffing firm in the world and the 10th largest in Europe, although the company has reduced its European network in recent years. Having earned a doctorate by the age of 25, Camden has been a marketing executive for a bank holding company, co-president of an advertising agency and co-founder of a behavioural research group. He is also a tenured university professor. A recipient of numerous awards throughout his career, Camden is a big supporter of mandated health benefits for temporary workers. He is a member of The Business Roundtable and an executive committee member of the Committee for Economic Development.
Dominik de Daniel joined the Adecco Group as CFO in 2006, following Adecco’s acquisition of DIS DeutscherIndustrie Service AG. De Daniel was a bank trainee at Deutsche Bank AG before completing vocational studies in banking and business administration at the Bankakademie. Starting in 1993, he worked for Deutsche Bank in Germany in various roles, including stock analyst. De Daniel joined DIS AG in 2000, and was appointed to the executive board in 2001 with responsibility for investor relations, M&A and strategic controlling. He became CFO in 2002.
Wessel van Alphen is founder (1986) and owner of the Dutch company IT-Staffing, one of the largest IT specialist firms in the European staffing market. Following the launch in 1978 of his first company providing the services of self-employed IT specialists to clients, van Alphen was involved in the creation of numerous other businesses, ranging from staffing brands to Internet radios. He passed the daily management of the company to his son, Wessel van Alphen Jr., in December 2013.
Eckard Gatzke has served as CEO of Randstad Germany since 2003. He is responsible for the sales organisation, marketing and communications and human resources. In addition, he contributes as country general manager for Tempo-Team, Randstad Professionals and GULP (sister companies). Under his leadership, Randstad Germany became the leading staffing firm in Germany. Prior to joining Randstad, Gatzke distinguished himself as an expert in the restructuring and reorganisation of leading companies in the logistics industry in Germany and Europe. His previous employers included Kuehne& Nagel, TNT, BahnTrans and Rhenus.
Ron Icke is chairman of the supervisory boards of Orizon GmbH, the 10th-largest staffing company in Germany, and DPA, a Dutch secondment provider. Icke entered the staffing industry in 1995, when he joined Goudsmit (part of USG People) as CEO. In 2006, he was appointed as CEO and chairman of the Board in USG People, a role he fulfilled until 2009. Icke qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC before becoming CFO of investment company WolterSchaberg, and then Euronext-quoted Goudsmit, where he started to develop his expertise in both acquisitions and temporary staffing.
Jan Arie van Barneveld is CEO of Brunel International nv, a Dutch firm with global operations focusing on the recruitment of professionals in sectors such as IT, engineering, legal and finance. Van Barneveld succeeded founder and major shareholder Jan Brand in 2000, which makes him one of the longest-sitting CEOs in the Dutch staffing market.
Károly Pataki became CEO of Trenkwalder International AG in December 2013 after serving as chief sales officer. Prior to Trenkwalder, Pataki was deputy general manager of Dunapack Ltd. and CFO and later CEO of Prinzhorn Holding. Since 2013, he has been a member of the Senate of Economy in Austria. Trenkwalder is the largest staffing provider in Austria and a market leader in Hungary and in the Black Sea region. The company has approximately 70,000 employees and recorded turnover of €1 billion in 2012. Trenkwalder has 300 branches in Central and Eastern Europe.
Denis Pennel was appointed managing director of Ciett, the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies, in April 2005. Pennel promotes the interests of the staffing industry before international institutions, such as the European Union, the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank or the OECD. Prior to his appointment, he served as corporate communications director for Manpower France (1998-2005). He is best known for his advocacy work during the writing phase of the Agency Work Directive as well as his efforts to ensure the optimal transposition of the directive across Europe.
