SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Miles Hunt launched private equity investment firm Benula Capital in 2013; it now has nine investments in the staffing sector including staffing companies, HR consulting firms and providers of recruiting technology. Prior to Benula, Hunt founded UK-based international staffing specialist Empresaria Group in 1996 and led its IPO in 2004 before stepping down as chief executive in 2011. Hunt became the first-ever chairman of Cobalt Recruitment in 2019. He also serves as chairman at Darwin Recruitment, Oasis HR and Australia-based Davidson. Additionally, for the past three years he has been chairman of APSCo Global, which represents staffing in Germany, Singapore and Australia as well as the UK.

SI 100 Europe - 2014, British -

James Reed is the chairman of the REED group of companies, which was founded by James’s father, Sir Alec Reed (see separate entry), in 1960. The company has 3,000 permanent employees working across 417 business units in 158 locations worldwide. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and was formerly an associate of the Prime Minister’sDelivery 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 co-author of the award-winning and best-selling book Put Your Mindset to Work.

SI 100 Europe - 2017, British -

Johnathan Johnson is CEO of Fircroft, which was founded by his father, John Johnson. He joined in 1997 as a consultant and was promoted to operations director for the international oil and gas sector in 2001. Since taking the helm in 2005, he has overseen the global expansion of the company, taking advantage of the globalisation in the oil and gas industry. As CEO, Johnson has made sure that the company’s service offering has developed to meet the needs of its growing client base.

SI 100 Europe - 2020, British -

Staffing 100 Europe | 2020

As COO of NES Global Talent since 2008, Simon Coton has been a key part of the executive team, delivering the sale to private equity funds advised by AEA Investors in 2012, securing a number of refinancing deals, and making seven strategic and value-adding acquisitions. During his tenure, NES expanded its operations to 66 physical locations around the globe, expanded its sector focus, and grew its turnover to more than $1.8 billion. Most recently, he helped facilitate the September 2020 merger with technical recruitment firm Fircroft to form NES Fircroft, of which he remains COO. He first joined NES in 1995 as a recruiter.

SI 100 Europe - 2018, British -

Nigel Heap joined Hays UK in 1988 as a trainee consultant. By 1997, he was managing director of Hays Australia, and consequently expanded operations to New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. In 2006, he was appointed managing director of Asia Pacific. He has been UK & Ireland managing director and chairman of the Asia Pacific business since 2012, and in 2017 also became managing director of Hays’ EMEA business.

SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Nigel Heap is regional managing director at Hays, responsible for the UK, Ireland, EMEA and Australia/New Zealand businesses. He joined Hays UK in 1988 as a trainee consultant. By 1997, he was managing director of Hays Australia, and subsequently expanded operations to New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Heap became managing director of Asia Pacific in 2006 and has been UK & Ireland managing director and chairman of the Asia Pacific business since 2012. In 2017, he assumed responsibility for 11 countries in Europe and the Middle East as well as the UK. In July 2018, Heap appointed a new managing director for Hays’ UK and Ireland business, but he retains responsibility for that region as well as EMEA and Australia/New Zealand businesses on the Hays management board.

SI 100 Europe - 2019, British -

Under Spencer Wreford’s leadership as CEO, London-based Empresaria Group plc is investing in its central team and rationalizing its business with a focus on its core brands. Wreford joined the international specialist staffing group in 2010 as group finance director and added the COO role in 2017; he was promoted to CEO in May 2018. Wreford has led six investments to bring new brands into the group, including last year’s majority stake in Peru’s Grupo Solimano. Empresaria posted consecutive record profit levels for the last four years, with 2018 reaching record levels of net fee income, profit and conversion ratio.

* Wreford stepped down as CEO in June 2019.

SI 100 Europe - 2014, British -

Giles Daubeney is COO of Robert Walters. He joined the group in 1988, after working in recruitment for Accountancy SelectionLimited and Badenock& Clark Ltd. From 1990 to 1994, he was based in Amsterdam and responsible for the Robert Walters Dutch and Belgian operations. Daubeney was appointed to his currentrole in 1999, and was appointed to the board in 2000.

SI 100 Europe - 2020, British -

Staffing 100 Europe | 2020

Kelvin Stagg, CFO of PageGroup plc, has significant international experience – and high levels of compliance, change management, large teams and systems experience – across almost every finance discipline. He joined PageGroup plc in 2006 as group financial controller and was appointed acting CFO in 2013. Stagg was corporate secretary from 2006 through 2013 and was named CFO in 2014. Prior to joining PageGroup, Stagg spent six years at Allied Domecq and three years at Unilever in a variety of finance functions. He is a chartered management accountant.

SI 100 Europe - 2018, British -

CEO of Affinity Workforce, Nicola McQueen has worked in the recruitment industry for more than 20 years, first joining Hays then moving to Capita. By 2010, she was appointed as managing director of Capita Resourcing and significantly grew the business, launching new services internationally and integrating strategic acquisitions to enhance the existing proposition. In 2016, McQueen was appointed as executive director of the Workplace Services division. Last year, McQueen led a management buyout of Capita’s specialist recruitment businesses, forming Affinity Workforce, now one of the largest privately owned public service recruitment specialists in the UK.