Ged Mason is CEO of Morson, a U.K.-based technical staffing firm. He joined the company in 1986 and took over as managing director in 1999 from his father, Gerry Mason (see separate entry), with backing from Barclays Private Equity. The company was floatedon AIM in 2006 and taken private again in 2012.
A workforce transformation leader with 25-plus years’ experience, Simon Bradberry currently leads Allegis Global Solutions’ business in EMEA, where he has grown its headcount 40% in two years. Bradberry was instrumental in transforming AGS’ RPO offering and recently co-authored a book, Universal Workforce Model: An Outcome-First Approach to Getting Work Done. His experience across business management, HR consulting and the design and delivery of workforce solutions gives him a first-hand perspective in harmonizing the theory, strategy and operationalisation of workforce strategies. Bradberry is on the representative committee for Apsco OutSource and an HRO Europe board member.
Managing director of Europe and Asia Pacific and a member of the Cielo Global executive team, Seb O’Connell challenges accepted norms of RPO and plays a key role in shaping the strategic direction of this global RPO leader. He is passionate about truly understanding the root of the talent acquisition challenges and ambitions of his clients, and his analytical approach has resulted in his status as Cielo’s global executive team sponsor of total talent acquisition. O’Connell’s enthusiasm for rapid and robust transformational change is seen within his organisation as under his leadership Cielo has opened additional offices in Budapest, Singapore, Manchester and Manila in the last two years. Working with his colleagues across the globe, O’Connell ensures analytics and technology are at the core of Cielo’s innovative operating model. O’Connell is frequently quoted in the media and is a highly regarded speaker at conferences and seminars.
As CEO of Airswift, Peter Searle has more than 28 years of experience in recruitment, having held managing director and chief executive positions with the Delphi Group, Ajilon and Adecco UK and Ireland. He is heavily involved in educational initiatives and was asked to appear on the UK Government’s Select Committee for Education in 2013. Searle has won multiple awards including a lifetime achievement award for his services to recruitment. In 2016, Searle became the CEO of the newly formed Airswift — following the merger of Air Energi and Swift Worldwide Resources — which specializes in global workforce solutions for the energy, process and infrastructure industries.
Johnathan Johnson is the chief executive officer of Fircroft. Johnson joined Fircroft in 1997 as a consultant and was promoted to operations director for the IT, commercial and rail sectors in 2001. Since taking the helm in 2005 from his father and company founder John Johnson, he has overseen the global expansion of the company. Fircroft now operates in more than 60 countries and reported an annual turnover of £898 million in 2013. Johnson was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2011 in the globalisation category.
Andrew Hogarth is CEO of Staffline, with revenue of £503 million in its latest financial year, providing staffing services to industry, supplying up to 35,000 workers every day to more than 1,300 clients. Staffline is also now a leading provider of services to the Government funded Welfare to Work and Skills arena across the UK.Hogarth has been with the company since 2002. Private equity firm Living Bridge funded the buy in/management buyout of the firm in 2000 and introduced Hogarth as finance director. Hogarth helped float the firm on AIM in 2004 and has been chief executive since 2003.He is a certified neuro-linguistic programming coach.
Kevin Barrow has been advising staffing companies on legal matters since 1990 and has been a partner with international law rm Osborne Clarke LLP since 2010. Most recently, Barrow advised on six large M&A deals in the sector, the globalisation of PEO (professional employer organisation) and employer-of-record models, litigation involving taxi apps and other platforms, the move toward automation of processes, and improvement to UK umbrella operating models. A regular speaker at online industry events, Barrow thrives on moving workforce solutions companies toward platform staffing models and consultancy models along with digital transformation of their businesses and increasing use of AI.
CEO of Gattaca plc since April, Matthew Wragg has been an integral part of the company for over two decades. As the previous chief customer officer, Wragg has been instrumental in sustaining long-term relationships with Gattaca’s key customers and shaping its global cultural and sales strategy, including the vision to make Gattaca the talent partner of choice for organisations requiring STEM talent. Wragg is also a member of the advisory board at the Institute for Collaborative Working and has held positions at several universities and the Confederation of British Industry.
Mike Beesley is the CEO of UK-based recruitment organisation Resource Solutions Group, or RSG. Since buying the company with business partner Keith Dawe in 1981, Beesley has taken RSG to new heights, navigating the 2008 recession and a restructuring to a £400 million-plus company as of 2018. His four decades’ industry experience include 20 years in IT recruitment and 20 years in MSP/RPO markets. He joined RSG after earning a business studies degree. Beesley is also the executive chairman of the Bristol Flyers basketball team.
As a mechanical technician, Alan Savage worked his way through the engineering ranks. Following a stint as a sales and marketing consultant, he formed Orion Group in 1987 to provide personnel to the booming engineering sector. Based in Inverness, Orion Group employs 375 staff across its 57 offices worldwide and manages more than 4,000 contractors annually throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The award-winning group now operates across a number of industry sectors: oil and gas, nuclear, rail, office and commercial, renewables, IT, mining, construction, and the sciences. Savage is a former chairman of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club.
