2016

Thibault Lefebvre

Thibault Lefebvre

Grafton Recruitment Group
CEO

Thibault Lefebvre is CEO of Grafton Recruitment Group, managing operations performance and organisation of the Grafton Recruitment staffing and SpenglerFox executive brands. He is a senior executive with many years’ experience in the general management of midsize to large organisations, in finance and in business operations. Lefebvre has a strong commitment to entrepreneurship and maximising profit growth, along with expertise in private equity and executive and non-executive board functions. Prior to Grafton Recruitment Group, Lefebvre served for nine years as managing director at Page Group for Russia, Switzerland and Central & Eastern Europe. He previously held key financial roles at Richmond, Gucci, Parisot Group and Valeo.

Eckard Gatzke

Eckard Gatzke

Randstad Germany
CEO

Eckard Gatzke has been CEO of Randstad Germany since 2003. He is responsible for the sales organisation, marketing and communications, and human resources. He is also country general manager for sister companies Tempo-Team, Randstad Professionals and GULP. Under Gatzke’s leadership, Randstad Germany has become the largest staffing firm in the country in terms of revenue. Before 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 include Kuehne & Nagel, TNT, BahnTrans and Rhenus.

Mike Wachholz

Mike Wachholz

Pontoon
President

As president of Pontoon, Mike Wachholz led Pontoon to become one of the largest global MSP/RPO companies in four years. Pontoon has grown from approximately 650 global employees to more than 1,500, providing services in more than 95 countries. With more than 150 clients, Pontoon has realised a 91% increase in MSP spend and has doubled RPO placements with Wachholz at the helm. Prior to Pontoon, Wachholz was the COO of Beeline.

Brian Wilkinson

Brian Wilkinson

Matchtech Group Plc
CEO

Brian Wilkinson is CEO of Matchtech Group Plc, having joined the company in December 2013. Wilkinson has worked in the recruitment industry for more than 35 years and brings extensive international as well as M&A experience to Matchtech. Wilkinson has been an active proponent of raising standards over that time, serving terms as chairman of both the FRES and the REC. In 2015, he was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award by the REC.

Federico Vione

Federico Vione

Adecco
Chief Sales and Innovation Officer

At the end of 2015, Federico Vione was appointed chief sales and innovation officer for Adecco. He originally joined Adecco in 1998 as a temp. In 2001 he became country manager of Ajilon Italy and then Switzerland in 2003. In 2005, Vione was appointed project leader, global account management, and subsequently head of Eastern Europe & Russia. In 2008, he was appointed country manager of Adecco Italy and in 2009 regional head of Italy, Eastern Europe & MENA. In 2011, he assumed responsibility of India & North Africa. Vione has been president and then VP of Assolavoro (Italian Association of Private Employment Agencies) till 2015.

Adrian McGennis

Adrian McGennis

Sigmar Recruitment group
CEO

Adrian McGennis is CEO of Sigmar Recruitment group. He was originally a founder director of Sigmar in 2002 and led the management buyout in 2009. Previously he was managing director for Ireland with Marlborough Plc (Group t/o €70m), where he successfully managed the Irish business from its inception in 1993 until 2001. McGennis had a key involvement in two of Ireland’s most successful job creation support schemes, being a co-founder of Ireland Gateway To Europe and chairman of National Employment Week. He is a regular commentator on employment, recruitment and business issues in the press across different channels.

Robert Jan van de Kraats

Robert Jan van de Kraats

Randstad
Vice-Chairman

A certified auditor, Robert Jan van de Kraats joined Randstad in 2001 as CFO. Van de Kraats was appointed as vice-chairman of the executive board in 2006. He is responsible for Japan, India, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In addition, he is responsible for group finance and accounting, tax, treasury, business risk and audit, legal, IT and investor relations. He is also a board member of OCI NV, a member of the supervisory board of Schiphol Group, and a member of the monitoring committee of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code.

Mark Verstraete

Mark Verstraete

T-Groep
Managing Director

Mark Verstraete is the managing director of T-Groep, the sixth-largest staffing firm in Belgium and the 31stlargest in Europe with operations in the Netherlands and Poland. In 2008, Verstraete led the acquisition of the Dutch privately held human resource company Luba by T-Groep, starting its international expansion and strengthening its position in the Benelux market for personnel services. In 2016, the group announced it is looking for new investors to fund further expansion plans. Verstraete currently sits at the management board of Federgon, the Belgian staffing association, as the president of the Temporary Agency Work Commission.

Maurizio Uboldi

Maurizio Uboldi

Gi Group
Head of International Business

Since 2007, Maurizio Uboldi has been responsible for the international expansion programme of Gi Group, one of the world’s leading companies providing services for the development of the labour market. Thanks to direct presence and partnerships, the company now operates in more than 40 countries worldwide. Uboldi has extensive experience and knowledge of global labour markets. Uboldi attended Bocconi University in Milan and the London Business School.

Franz-Josef Schürmann

Franz-Josef Schürmann

Adecco
Regional head of Germany,
Austria, Switzerland (DACH)

Franz-Josef Schürmann serves as the regional head of Germany, Austria, Switzerland (DACH) for Adecco, a position he has held since January 2016. He started his career at Accenture in 1996. As a member of the German and European leadership teams of Accenture, in 2008 he was named global client partner for several DAX 30 companies. From 2010 to 2015, Schürmann was country head of Germany for Infosys Ltd. He is board director at AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce and for Bitkom, the German IT and Communications Industry association. He is a member of the Senate of Acatech, the national academy of science and engineering.