François Roux has been general manager of the French staffing association (Prism’emploi) since 2001. In this role, he represents the interests of the staffing industry, lobbying government and negotiating with social partners and French institutions. In 2013, Roux led the talks with trade unions that resulted in the creation of a form of indefinite duration contract for temporary agency workers.
Matthew Brown founded Giant Group plc in 1992 and serves as CEO. The company specialises in support services to the contingent labour market including umbrella employment, accounting, cloud based back office software and professional managed services both in the UK and internationally. Turnover is over £275 million and in any week more than 30,000 workers are using a giant personal web portal.
Ron Icke is chairman of the supervisory boards of German staffing firm Orizon GmbH and Dutch staffing firm DPA; positions he has held since 2011 and 2010, respectively. In 1995 he joined Goudsmit (part of USG People) as CFO, being promoted to CEO in 2005. In 2006 he was appointed CEO and chairman of the board of USG People, a position he held until 2009. Icke qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC before becoming CFO of investment company WolterSchaberg, where he developed his expertise in both acquisitions and temporary staffing.
Yvon Drouet is CFO of Synergie, the fifth-largest staffing firm in France and one of the largest staffing firms in Europe. Publicly listed on NYSE Euronext Paris, the company is expanding rapidly outside its home market. Drouet played an instrumental role during the acquisitions of British firms Acorn, Advance Personnel and Concept Staffing. The Acorn subsidiary is at the core of the group’s expansion strategy in the UK and Australia.
Carmen Watson joined Pertemps in 1976 as a secretary and by 1983 had progressed to the boardroom as commercial director. From 1983 to 2000, she was responsible for the formation of a corporate business team and turnover grew tenfold from £32m to £323m. In, 2000,Watson was named managing director and then became chairperson in 2012. A long-term supporter of diversity in the workplace, Watson is one of the foremost speakers on women in the boardroom.
Martin Weiß is co-founder and managing director of ZAG Personal & Perspektiven, headquartered in Hanover, Germany. In 2007, Weiß founded the non-profit ZAG foundation Pro Chance, which supports the young and disadvantaged in various projects. Founded in 1984, ZAG Personal & Perspektiven operates more than 100 branches and employs more than 10,000 workers with approximately 17,000 client companies. With turnover of €240 million in 2014, ZAG Personal &Perspektiven is one of the 10 largest staffing companies in Germany. It is a member of the Federal Employers’ Association of Personnel Services (BAP).
Anne Heraty is the co-founder major and stakeholder and CEO of CPL Resources plc.In 1989, Heraty and Keith O’Malley founded Computer Placement Ltd., which placed people at IT companies setting up businesses in Ireland. In 1992, she became sole shareholder. In 1996, Heraty’s husband, Paul Carrol, joined the group and in 1999 they took CPL to the Irish and London stock markets, making Heraty the first female CEO of an Irish company floated on the stock exchange. In 2006, she won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Ireland.
Natalia Shuman is SVP and GM Kelly Services Inc.’s EMEA and APAC regions. Shuman also serves as a board member of Kelly’s joint venture, TS Kelly Workforce Solutions, in North Asia. She joined Kelly in 1997 and launched Kelly’s recruitment business in the Moscow market. She relocated to New York in 2000, but moved to Singapore in 2011. She was then appointed COO to start up Kelly’s joint venture operations in China and North Asia and was based in Shanghai for over a year. Shuman was elected a board member of Ciett (the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies) in May and is based in both Singapore and Switzerland.
Andreu Cruañas became president of ASEMPLEO, the association of private employment agencies in Spain, in 2013. Cruañas represents ASEMPLEO in Eurociett and CIETT. He is on the executive committee of Confederation of Employers and Industries of Spain (CEOE) and has been a board member of CEOE and the SpanishConfederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME) since 2013. Cruañas is also a member of the General Council of the Spanish Employment System (Ministry of Employment and Social Security) and the Central Executive Committee of the Public Employment Service of Spain. In his career, Cruañas has alternated between roles in the public and private sector and was formerly the Secretary of Labour and Employment and Director General of Employment of the Catalan Government.
Alan Savage founded the Orion Group in 1987. As a mechanical technician, he worked his way through the engineering ranks. Following a stint as a sales and marketing consultant, he formed the Orion Group to provide personnel to the booming engineering sector. Based in Inverness, Orion Group employs 425 staff across its 44 worldwide offices and manages more than 4,000 contractors annually throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Savage is a former chairman of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club and a Manchester United supporter.
