SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Seb O’Connell’s focus on creating a sustainable, innovative, efficient and agile organisation resulted in his regions growing at more than twice the market rate in 2018 and his promotion to president in early 2019. He is the executive leader for the EMEA and APAC regions as well as Cielo’s global executive team sponsor of total talent acquisition, employer brand and executive search. O’Connell is dedicated to providing a positive employee experience and believes success comes from diverse and inclusive teams. From a client perspective, he is most proud of the 2018 launch of the Cielo Total Talent programme with Société Générale — disrupting the approach to permanent, contingent, executive and graduate recruitment in one programme.

SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Paul Venables for the past 13 years has served as group finance director of international recruitment firm Hays, which SIA ranks as the sixth-largest global staffing firm based on 2017 revenue. He was also senior independent nonexecutive director of Wincanton plc until July 2015. Prior to Hays, Venables spent 13 years at Exel plc, where he held senior finance and operational roles, including as deputy group finance director, and was a member of the executive board of Exel plc and chairman of its acquisitions and project review board. Following the acquisition of Exel plc by Deutsche Post, Venables worked in its DHL Logistics division before joining Hays.

SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Kevin Barrow is a partner with international law firm Osborne Clarke LLP. Since 1990, he has advised staffing companies on all types of legal work, including commercial deals and international joint ventures and M&A. His team has advised on many high-value staffing M&A transactions in the EMEA region and works for more than 100 hirers and suppliers on UK, EU and international flexible workforce projects. His team also advises on the 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 four years.

SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Julia Robertson has long been motivated by her belief that there is “a better way to do recruitment”. She became Impellam Group’s chief executive officer in 2013 after joining Tate in 1996, which was later acquired to form part of what is now Impellam Group. Prior to Impellam Group, Robertson was chief executive of the Institute of Employment Consultants (now known as the Recruitment & Employment Confederation), the professional body for the UK recruitment industry. She also founded her own recruitment business in 1986, which was sold to the Group alongside Tate. In 2016, Robertson received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Recruitment Professionals.

SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

James Reed is chairman of Reed Global, which has 3,000 employees working in 140 locations worldwide. Reed joined the company in 1992 after graduating from Harvard Business School. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and was formerly an associate of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and a member of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s business-led taskforce on race equality and diversity in the private sector. Reed is a regular media commentator on work and labour market issues. He is also author of the best-selling books Why You? 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear Again and The 7 Second CV, and co-author of Put Your Mindset to Work.