SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Appointed CEO in 2019, Mike Barnard leads Acacium Group, the 24th-largest staffing provider in Europe. Prior to this, Barnard spent seven years at Capita in several executive positions. Fuelled by his passion for enhancing lives, Barnard is on a mission to elevate the experience for people, clients and patients at Acacium. Formerly known as Independent Clinical Services Group, Acacium Group provides staffing, managed services and innovative delivery models to health and social care systems and the global life science industry. It operates in the UK, Ireland, US, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, China, Japan and Australia. Prior to Acacium, Barnard spent seven years at Capita in several executive positions.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Sven Hennige joined the staffing industry in the late 1990s and started at Robert Half in 1999, where he is now the senior managing director of Central Europe and France. Over the last 18 months, Hennige has been integral in further establishing and gaining market share in Germany, which was done in conjunction with Robert Half’s management consulting business, Protiviti. The result of these actions led to the most successful year in the company’s history in Germany. Going forward, Hennige plans to use the strong joint market approach to further establish the business in France and Switzerland.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Lassi Määttä serves as CEO of Finland-based staffing firm Barona, which operates in nine countries. Under his leadership, Barona has evolved from traditional staffing services to a diverse set of solutions designed to meet the quickly changing needs of the world of work. With a strategic focus on international labour, Määttä recently spearheaded the company’s first investment in relocation services provider FRS. Määttä aspires to make Barona a dynamic platform that embraces innovation, fostering positive impact and value for companies and individuals, offering people opportunities to learn and support well-being.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Jean-Philippe Papin is general director of France-based Actual Leader Group, the seventh-largest staffing firm in France. The company was formed in 2018 from the merger of temporary employment firms Groupe Actual and Leader Intérim, the latter of which he founded in 1992. Under Papin’s leadership, Actual Leader Group earlier this year signed an agreement with Pôle Emploi, the French government unemployment agency, to pool resources, help resolve recruitment difficulties and facilitate training in order to transform jobs and skills to support the most vulnerable groups.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Sander van ‘t Noordende became CEO and chair of the executive board at Randstad in March 2022 after being a member of the supervisory board since March 2021. Previously at Accenture for three decades, he held several executive roles, including group chief executive of the products operating group, focusing on client and industry development, along with significant growth in digital services. With a degree in industrial engineering, specialised in finance and marketing from Eindhoven University of Technology, he also serves as a non-executive director at AECOM and advocates passionately for workplace equality.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Sandra Henke joined Hays in 1997, progressing through various roles to become the global head of people and culture and a member of the executive board. She recently led the establishment of leadership development programmes focusing on inclusive leadership behaviours and DE&I initiatives, including implementing targets for female representation in senior leadership. Henke’s plans involve supporting the business’s enablement as a global talent services leader and continuing to emphasise inclusive leadership, DE&I initiatives, supportive policies and diverse representation at senior levels of the organisation. Henke also mentors people transitioning into senior roles.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Beginning her career in staffing solutions in 1999, Farida Gibbs in 2005 founded Gibbs Hybrid Ltd., which she leads as CEO. This past year, Gibbs led the merger of Gibbs Hybrid, which is MSDUK-certified as a minority woman-owned business, with New York-based Atrium, amplifying each company’s ability to deliver customised, customer-centric workforce solutions. A champion of DE&I, Gibbs sits on the Council for Women Business Enterprise, is Ambassador for the Minority Supplier Development UK and was appointed to an advisory leadership role for the UK’s supplier diversity workstream within the cabinet office.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

CEO since January 2022, Lorna Conn has driven Irish talent solutions company Cpl through its next phase of expansion. Under her leadership, Cpl acquired the German IT contracting company Neusta. Most recently, Conn and her team attained the Gold Investors in Diversity EDI mark, making Cpl the first talent solutions provider and one of only nine organisations in Ireland to achieve this accreditation. Conn plans to further internationalise Cpl with a strong focus on the US, UK and Germany. Conn is also senior managing executive officer of Cpl’s parent company, Outsourcing Inc., and a nonexecutive board director of Bord na Móna.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

Bev White is CEO of Nash Squared, a global provider of technology and talent solutions. In working with the UK government, Nash provides opportunities to combine academic study with on-the-job learning during a practical industry placement. White believes when colleagues are supported and given room to grow, customers will have the same opportunity. In an effort to keep learning and growing as well, White recently took a course in Agile project management to better understand the tools and techniques that clients use. White is a member of digital commerce and services agency SQLI’s board of directors and the UK’s Professional and Business Services Council.

SI 100 Europe - 2023 -

As CEO of the Employment & Recruitment Federation, Geraldine King continues to facilitate its services and upskill offerings. In 2022, King introduced the first graduate exit programme in partnership with the National College of Ireland for a bachelor’s degree in recruitment practice — the sole degree in the world attached to the country’s national framework of education. Her plans include developing the first-ever master’s accreditation for Ireland recruiters. A 22-year staffing veteran, King is an executive board member at the World Employment Confederation and a board member of the Ireland external advisory board for the digital reform of public sector recruitment.